A Cure For Magic
by Emmaficready
Summary: The war is ended , and the world along with it... It wasn't the dark in the end , nor the light. It was the muggles , and their cure for magic...How can they learn how to survive in a world where they are hunted for what they are. (Post HBP , goes wildly off canon from there , character deaths , ZOMBIES and dystopian AU)
1. Chapter 1

In the end it hadn't mattered what side you were on , dark or light , for they all ended up the same.

Dead.

Well , mostly.

There were a few survivors , scattered like ashes to the winds. But the wizarding world as they'd known it was dead and gone.

With most of the muggles along with it.

Ironically it was the Muggles who caused it all in the end, though most blamed Voldemort and with good reason.

Voldemort's increasingly open attacks on Muggles finally had a reaction.

The statuette of secrecy was in tatters. _Muggles were aware of magic_

It caused a nationwide panic. There was rioting, protests and looting throughout Britain - while the magical ministries of other countries managed to influence the media , into thinking it was some sort of 'nationwide hoax' , for a short while at least.

At first there were only one or two disappearances, all from big cities like London or Edinburgh.

They were majorly from Half blood and muggle born families , who spent time in densely populated muggle areas.

The light blamed the dark.

The dark blamed the muggles.

The dark were right.

.

It had started as abductions, Then it had been experiments.

The muggles wanted to understand magic , which of course meant they wanted to harness it, so they could use it as a weapon.

When they couldn't do that , no matter how many witches and wizards they killed through their experiments, they tried to create an "Antidote".

Or more effectively , a vaccine.

They wanted to make muggles immune to the effects of magic, so death eaters could no longer enter their homes and slaughter them like so many fish in barrels.

They wanted to stop Aurors and unspeakables wiping their memories, and they wanted to break through the unplottable areas that stopped muggles from walking into wizarding towns.

They experimented , and more witches and wizards disappeared to fuel their research.

And then at last...success.

If you could call it that.

They created their 'vaccine' , the same way many other vaccines were created.

Using the blood from witches and wizards, they isolated the inherant magic in their cells, then using dead or weakened magical cells in a 'live' vaccine that encouraged the muggle's immune system to attack and kill it.

Their vaccine worked. It made them immune to magic.

They tested it at facilities in London, Manchester and Ediburgh.

The immune could walk straight through the darkest of blood magic wards, and appear at the other side without a scratch on them. Wards that would kill a wizard instantly.

They could see and walk straight into a house like grimmauld place that was kept under the fidelius charm , that no wizard would be able to find without the help of the secret keeper.

Fiendfyre would burn all the clothes from their bodies, and leave them unharmed underneath.

You could even cast an Avada Kedavra at them, and the magic would just filter out harmlessly around them on contact , their very blood destroying it on contact.

It would have been a resounding success, the only problem was it also killed them in the process.

Which wouldn't have been a problem really.

If only they'd stayed that way.

.

They had treated it like a virus, and that's what they created. A virus.

The immune were aggressive and mindless.

They weren't prepared for what they'd created. The immune overran the testing facilities , and then it was an outbreak. In 3 major cities.

If a muggle was bitten by one of the immune, scratched or got blood in their mouth or eyes , it took anything from minutes to hours for it to kill them. Once dead, the virus lived on in their corpse , reanimating it as vicious and bloodthirsty as an inferni.

The fever would burn through them , then like the virus it was all they thought of was infecting the next host.

.

The large cities fell first.

The infection spread among the muggles like headlice in a school. if one had it , they _all_ had it.

London, Edinburgh , Manchester and Cardiff all fell in the first week.

The army called a state of national emergency and closed off the airports and docks.

Then they firebombed the big cities , but it was too late.

In a last desperate attempt, they thought they could contain it to the UK , it's an Island after all.

But the immune broke through the channel tunnel, then the virus was in France.

Then Europe.

Then the the radios and tvs went out.

Another week and the electric was out .

And the survivors in the UK were left in the dark.

* * *

The wizarding world was even less prepared than the muggles.

Purebloods and half bloods that spent their whole lives in the wizarding world, were completely undone when no manner of defensive or aggressive spells could prevent the infected from reaching them.

Great families fell , as unplottable manors with the darkest of blood wards were overrun with ease. The sacred 28 was no more, as wizarding familes large and small were decimated.

If a witch or wizard was bitten, the fever raged through them and destroyed their magic.

Having their magic burned out of their blood drove them insane , the tortured and agonised howls of the bitten witches and wizards losing their minds along with their magic were enough to terrify any who heard them , and once turned they were louder, faster and more aggressive than the muggle infected.

They called them screamers.

The immune were drawn mostly to noise and the smell of blood, but they were slow and fumbling and, provided you didn't get caught in a horde , could usually be escaped.

The screamers were attracted to magic.

The screamers could _run._

 _._

When the city of London fell , so did Diagon Alley.

Immune walked through the barrier at the leaky cauldron as though it was a children's parlour trick , and the unprepared denizens of the street were as lambs to the slaughter. The alley was overrun.

When the firebombs fell , with no-one to protect it, it was reduced to burnt out buildings and ashes like the rest of the city.

Many witches and wizards retreated to Hogsmeade and the deeply ingrained childhood memory, of the safety of Hogwarts' stone walls.

The castle held for a short time , even after Edinburgh fell.

But the immune could not be held back for long.

In the end it was the dark forest that did it, It was far too open , too vast.

They found their way to the grounds.

Infected muggles alone could have been held back perhaps, but when hogsmeade was overrun , and all the magical inhabitants turned, the resulting screamers tore through the castle before many had a chance to do anything about it.

The funny thing was , it was the castle that killed most of them in the end.

The inherent and protective magic of the castle itself , designed to keep witches and wizards safe for centuries.

Magic that for years had cared for students, and prevented attacks and made the castle as impenetrable as a fortress.

 _Anti Apparition wards._

When the screamers trapped them in parts of the castle , the witches and wizards were stuck, unable to apparate out of the castle until the headmaster himself fell and the school wards fell right along with him.

The remaining witches and wizards scattered to the wind , apparating to who knows where as soon as they were able to, the first place they could think of in their panicked mind.

No-one knows how many died from splinching , as frantic magic folk apparated blindly out of fear , and a desperate need to be anywhere that wasn't where they were in that moment.

Friends and families were flung apart , and it was a hard lesson to learn that even a patronus message could not be sent , lest you want to lead a group of screamers to your loved ones, as they followed the patronus on it's journey.

Nowhere was safe.

And that was how Severus Snape found himself sleeping on the roof of a van, shivering from the cold and praying that tonight would not be the night that a screamer found him in his sleep.

* * *

 **Just to let you guys know , I'm posting up a few of my WIP stories , just to see if there's any interest in them.**

 **However please be warned , they will not be updated as frequently as my founding 3 stories (not the same girl , it started off with a kick , signs) once those stories are completed , the others will be updated more frequently.**


	2. Chapter 2

The bitingly cold wind roused him from what little sleep he'd managed atop the roof of the van.

It was high enough that the immune could not reach him, the brain-dead things couldn't climb or open doors. A screamer could though.

He lay still for a moment , listening to his surroundings and praying for silence.

This morning it seemed the gods were merciful.

No moaning, No Screaming.

He was alone.

Just as he had been these past years.

How many had passed now? 4? 5?

The temptation to cast a tempus , was not worth the risk of Screamers being drawn like moths to a flame.

The ever present bite of hunger coiled in his belly , but he ignored it.

Food was scarce , especially when avoiding towns. Thanks to Gamps law, of elemental transfiguration, food could not be conjured.

If you had food you could duplicate it. Turn one sandwich into two, or 10. But you couldn't duplicate the energy or calories contained in the food.

You could turn a 200 calorie sandwich into 10 sandwiches, but there'd only be 20 calories in each.

It would take away the growling of your empty stomach but it would not give you any more energy or put meat on your bones, as his whippet thin frame could attest.

Plus, the effort of magically duplicating food that had no nutritional value, was not worth the risk of drawing screamers.

So he lived with the biting hunger. Accepted it. It was another way of knowing he was alive.

His body ached as he walked. It was not good to stay in one place for too long, not if it wasn't defendable.

His feet burned from walking, his muscles ached and his skin stung as the biting wind ripped through him.

The coat he wore was threadbare, but it was not worth the the risk of venturing into town to find another.

Not for the first time, he wished for his thick woolen robes, though he'd learned quickly that being identifiable on sight as a wizard , was not a safe position to be in among panicked muggles.

The deep scar and bullet lodged in his shoulder blade attested to that.

* * *

There was a building up ahead.

A station master's terminal on the train tracks.

No other buildings in sight for miles , and mostly flat landscapes of what were once farmers fields.

He could perhaps block the stairs and sleep upstairs.

There were windows he could climb out of if the lower level became full of immune.

It would be nice to have a roof over his head.

The height of the building meant you could see for miles in each direction , hopefully preventing him from being caught unaware.

It was as good a prospect as he'd had in a very long time.

* * *

He followed the tracks until he reached the building. Then began to circle it.

 _Only one door._ Equally good and bad. It meant he wasn't about to be taken by surprise, but it also meant that if he were to be overwhelmed, the only escape would be out of the window... _or apparating._ A very risky prospect. You could accidentally apparate into the middle of a horde of immune, but regardless of that the magical signature would draw screamers to you from a mile around.

A last ditch resort only.

Taking a moment to consider it , and deciding he'd rather have the roof over his head , he made his decision.

The door was jammed shut from the inside and he decided rather than drawing immune with the noise of kicking it in , or screamers with using a spell to blast it in...he had to find another way.

There was am open window large enough for him to get in.

High enough off the ground immune would not get through, but he'd have to put something there to block screamers.

Using the guttering he made his way up until he got to the window , then casting a quick look around and finding no movement in the room , he hefted himself through.

Brushing the dust off himself he began to survey the room around him , only to freeze at a noise from behind a closed door.

He reached onto his back for the baseball bat he carried, as he slowly shuffled closer to the closed door.

Listening, he waited...and waited.

 _There._

Another soft sound , like feet shuffling on the floor.

Not screamers then. Immune most likely, and not many from the sound of it.

He could manage a few, it was worth the risk to have the roof over his head.

Making his way across the floor he found his way to the door and tested the handle, locked.

A very mild alohamora was simple enough magic to not make too much of a signature, and he knew from the view across the fields that there were no screamers within at least a mile.

He chanced it. And the lock popped open with a click.

There was another shuffle inside in responce to the noise.

Hefting the bat over his shoulder he braced himself and pushed the door open , charging into the room with the bat over his shoulder.

Only to freeze instantly at the crossbow levelled at his face.

* * *

The woman was small and like him had a scarf wrapped around all but her eyes.

It was practical , it prevented you from accidentally getting blood in your mouth if you were attacked by the immune.

Small she may have been, but her aim was steady, and the crossbow was a strong one. One of the heavy ones muggles used for hunting.

Even if she'd have pointed it at him from a few hundred yards away, it would've killed him.

 _Fucking Brilliant._

This was just what he needed. Being teased by fate into thinking he's finally found somewhere he could rest his head, only to get himself killed by this slip of a muggle girl. Or worse, robbed and left defenceless.

So fixated on his inner monologue , he nearly missed her soft shaky words.

" _Snape?_ "

His eyes snapped to hers.

 _He knew that voice._

He hadn't heard it for years, but he knew it.

 _"Granger?"_

A shaky hand reached up and pulled the scarf from her face.

It _was_ Granger. Older, leaner and without the look of innocence. But it was her.

He mimicked her movements and pulled the scarf from his face.

For a moment they just stood, staring at each other, taking one another in.

Then her hand on the crossbow shook , and with a sob she threw it on the bed behind her and launched herself at him.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as he dropped the bat to stoop down and wrap his around her in return.

She kissed his cheek not caring about the short beard he now sported , and he buried his face in her neck.

When He straightened his back, she tightened her arms around him, and with a small jump wrapped her legs around his waist as she continued to pepper kisses on his cheek whilst sobbing. He grabbed her arse to support her , and tried to fight his own tears as he squeezed her too tightly to his chest.

Eventually his legs gave out , and he sank to his knees on the floor , still not letting go of her.

She cupped his cheeks and kissed him, still crying, and he'd given up trying to hold his own tears back.

Eventually she buried her face in his neck , much as he had done , and breathed him in.

"How" he asked into her hair. "How did you know it was me?"

"Your eyes..." She whispered into his neck.

She pulled back to look at his face, and with a teary smile moved his hair out of his face.

"No one has eyes like you severus snape" and to his surprise she kissed him once more

"And no one in my life other than you has ever managed to look _that_ annoyed with me"

He laughed then , deep and low and pulled her tightly to him once more.

Thanking all the gods and deities , for delivering him one insufferable little swot.


	3. Chapter 3

He hadn't seen her since Hogwarts, however many years that had been.

She'd been in her 6th year when the outbreak occurred, around 18 with the time-turner, what was she now then ? 22? 23?

The last time he'd seen her she was apparating away with a group of other students as the screamers stormed the castle.

She was being so familiar with him, despite the fact they'd never been more than teacher and student, but he found he couldn't care less and welcomed the friendly contact.

 _Where had she been since ? Was she alone ?_

His question was answered when a slight shuffle came from behind him , he reacted quickly and reached for the bat, but she put a hand on his cheek to stay him and gave him a sad smile.

"mummy" the quiet words came and Severus's heart clenched "It's OK" She spoke softly and bent down to pull a small form out from under the bed.

The boy was young, young enough to have been born after all this started.

He had shocking red hair, _Hers and Weasley's then_ , and was breathing heavily...too heavily.

"Everything's ok honey , this man is a friend of mine, now breathe slowly like I taught you"

 _A friend._ Severus didn't even know he had any of those.

He watched as she sat on the bed and pulled the young boy onto her lap , his back to her chest as she held him upright and led him in slow deep breaths.

At his curious look, _Asthma_... She mouthed to him and met his eyes almost nervously, and he didn't need to be a legillimens to see her worries.

The boy was weak, and weakness was a liability in times like these.

 _Was this why she was alone ? Had they abandoned her with the boy ?_

Severus had come across people , on and off over the past years and there was one rule that seemed to have been silently agreed upon.

Man, woman, magic or muggle.

It was Darwinism at it's best, survival of the fittest.

If you fell behind, you were left behind.

* * *

When the boy's breathing calmed enough , she tucked his head under her chin.

The boys shivered slightly , he was pale skinned and sickly looking. Not unlike Severus himself had been at that age.

She pulled a worn hooded jumper out of her bag and wrapped him in it , pulling up the hood to cover the boys ears.

Then pulled him into a hug, rocking him gently.

Severus stood up silently and waited until the boy's breathing evened out into an exhausted sleep.

He made his way over to her and quietly sat beside her on the bed.

"Is it just the two of you ?" He asked softly.

She nodded.

"How long ?"

"Years."

"The father ?"

"Dead"

The boy shuffled and gave a small wheeze in his sleep, and the girl rubbed his back.

"Do you have medicine? Inhalers?" He asked gently.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with one hand as she shook her head.

"One, I try to save it for the bad ones, they're getting harder to come by and they don't work like they used to."

Nodding once , he let out a deep breath and a curse.

It made sense, the safest places to raid supplies were those far away from built up areas where there'd be large amounts of immune.

Service stations on motorways and highways were the best bet, and it would be doubtful to find asthma inhalers there. Plus the shelf life on them was obviously not designed to be huge, it was disposable medicine to be used and replaced, not designed to last. So the medicine that was out there would be degrading and with no more being made...

"Can he walk ?"

The boy looked like he'd nothing physically wrong with him, but he was clearly weak.

"Yes"

"run?"

"No...I-I carry him"

He scrubbed his face with his hands and let out a deep breath.

Turning to face her , he looked into her eyes.

Her back tensed, obviously preparing for his next words like a physical blow.

He could practically see her putting up her defences.

Fierce little lioness.

"I'm larger, I'll carry him from now when we need to move. There are some balms I could make for his chest if we can find the plants, they're not brilliant, not as good as potions... but the magic from brewing would attract screamers"

The tension fell from her body at his words , and she looked like a puppet who's strings had been cut as she sagged with relief, holding tighter to the boy in her arms.

She collapsed into his side, buried her face into his chest and cried.

There was nothing he could do , but put his arm around her and tuck her head under his chin.


	4. Chapter 4

_"I'm larger, I'll carry him from now when we need to move. There are some balms I could make for his chest if we can find the plants, they're not brilliant, not as good as potions... but the magic from brewing would attract screamers"_

 _The tension fell from her body at his words , and she looked like a puppet who's strings had been cut as she sagged with relief, holding tighter to the boy in her arms._

 _She collapsed into his side, buried her face into his chest and cried._

 _There was nothing he could do , but put his arm around her and tuck her head under his chin._

 _cont._

* * *

The first thing they'd done once she'd settled the boy into the bed, is sit side by side and compare supplies.

And Severus was astounded with the level of trust she showed him in that action.

Rations and supplies were hard to come by, and more valuable than gold dust.

Once she'd put down the crossbow, she'd become vulnerable.

It would've taken nothing for him, a much larger and stronger man, to overpower her and take her supplies... _or her._

So the trust she showed in doing so, trusting him so completely with _both_ of their lives, made his heart clench in his chest.

Between them they combined supplies , making sure each of them now carried a bag that would keep them going if the other was lost.

It was no good to put all your eggs in one basket so to speak, if you lost a bag _(or the person carrying it)_ the other would be useless.

He reluctantly gave her his worn backpack , and gestured to take her satchel. "If I'm carrying the boy, you'd better take the backpack". If she felt anything near as attached to her bag, as he did the backpack that he'd lived out of all these years, he half expected her to argue, but instead she nodded in acceptance and acquiesced.

He'd been morbidly pleased in a way to discover she also kept a list of known 'deaths' , as he did.

That was the next thing they compared.

And though it hurt them both to see some of the names on each other's lists , sometimes the not knowing was worse.

 _P. Mcgonnagol - Dead_

 _P. Flitwick - Dead_

 _Ginny Weasley - Dead_

 _Ronald Weasley - Dead_

 _Percy Weasley - Dead_

 _Voldemort - Dead_

She'd sniffled when she read McGonnagol's name off his list , wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, and dropping her head to rest on his shoulder.

It was the next few names though , that made them sombre as they compared.

 _P. Sprout - Screamer..._

He'd been sad to read that , and sniffed himself. She tucked her arm into his and dropped a kiss on his shoulder. Sprout had always been good to him , gentle and kind. even as a confused and angry youth , she'd always been nice to him in her motherly way and to imagine her as a screamer was painful , the woman in life wouldn't have hurt a fly.

 _Hagrid - Screamer_

She whimpered at that , and met his eyes with her wide ones. It was upsetting for her , that man had been a stalwart friend to her for years , and he recalled being told of the hours she'd spent in his hut drinking tea when the boys were not speaking to her. But equally , the thought of the half giant as a screamer was terrifying and he nodded sombrely.

 _Albus Dumbledore - Screamer_

They both had that name on their list , having been at the castle when the headmaster fell , and both felt the pain of the loss.

It was the next names on her list that made him pull her back into his lap and his embrace, when her hands had trembled and body shook as he read them.

 _Mum and Dad - Immune_

 _Harry Potter...Screamer._

* * *

He checked the building for himself , seeing the way she'd fortified the front door by piling furniture in front of it.

With his larger frame, he was able to move some bigger pieces and add more fortification to the front door.

Even if they broke through the door, they'd have a struggle to get through the barricade. The one upside to this old station house, was the furniture was old. Outdated and ugly by anyone's view, but it was old and solid wood...so was strong and heavy, making for a good barricade. God knows what they'd have done if they'd had to make a barricade out of the ikea type modern furniture , that was as flimsy and lightweight as cardboard.

There were 4 windows to the upstairs , though none had easy access as the one Severus had got in. She'd confirmed that was the one she used with the boy, Samuel he was called Hermione had told him, though she called him Sam.

The first thing he'd done is find a shovel and dig a large pit under one of the windows , with plans to do the others as soon as he could. It would prevent muggles using ladders to get up to the windows.

There was a couple of apple trees at the side of the tracks, REAL apples and not the crab apples that were inedible, and Severus's mouth watered at the thought of eating something that hadn't come from a tin. From their position Severus ventured that one past station master had a habit of throwing his apple cores out of the window. Hermione confided that she kept the seeds from every apple, she had a number in her bag and had planted a great deal more around , for future benefit of herself or any others.

When Severus came back through the top window , he moved a large armoire to block it , ensuring that nobody would be able to just follow him in , as he had stumbled in the same way.

Hermione had been concerned about sealing them in , until he'd mentioned the skylight he'd spotted on the roof , which was inaccesible from the ground , having all the muggle defences around it to stop thieves stealing the slate tiles.

They managed to find the attic door between them , and Severus had hoisted her up on his shoulders so that she could get through the door.

When she returned , they made plans.

The attic wasn't a usable living space as there was no floor up there, just a few kickboards over the pipes which was a shame, but the skylight was large enough for them to get out of , and it was a simple latch to unlock.

So during the day they would use the window by the guttering, then on a night Severus would block it with the heavy Armoire. If they were come upon by immune or hostile muggles, the attic was their escape route.

It was a small building all in, designed for a live in station master. There was one small bedroom, small office, bathroom and downstairs was a kitchen.

When it came time to sleep , Hermione tucked the boy in with a quilt on the soft chair. Explaining that he breathed better if he was propped up ,rather than prone.

When she made to go for the bed , he made to go for the floor. Instead he was surprised when she grabbed his hand , and pulled him into the single bed with her.

He had his cock in her that night.


	5. Chapter 5

_**If you're not comfortable with two consenting adults being intimate , in the same room as a sleeping child, then skip this chapter.**  
_

* * *

 _When she made to go for the bed , he made to go for the floor. Instead he was surprised when she grabbed his hand , and pulled him into the single bed with her._

 _He had his cock in her that night._

* * *

 _Well...in her mouth anyway._

But beggars can't be choosers, and as it had been at least 10 years since any woman deigned to offer him this sort of pleasure , Severus wasn't about to argue.

He'd been surprised when she pulled him into the bed, throwing the sheet over them both, and even more surprised when she'd embraced him.

She fit perfectly in his arms , with her head tucked under his chin and her small body held against his chest.

He'd almost been worried about how she'd react if he started getting hard. It'd been so long since he'd been with a woman , and even though she was the first woman he'd come in contact with in a long time, there was no denying that she was beautiful.  
But before his body had time to react to her warmth , and before he'd had time to think of an appropriate apology if it did , she'd pressed her face into his neck and dropped a kiss there , then another when he didn't protest.

That alone was enough to make his eyebrow arch in interest, but when her warm little hand sneaked it's way down his chest and began to free his belt from the front of his jeans, he quickly grabbed her wrist to halt her actions.

Confused amber eyes met his as he considered her gaze.

"What is this?" He whispered roughly.

She just looked at him in confusion for a moment , before he got a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"If this is...I do not require _payment_ to protect you "

The vicious glare that he got then reminded him of Minerva, and made him almost smile.

" _Good_ , because I'm not offering it...and I was under the impression we were going to be protecting _each other ,_ or are we forgetting who got the drop on who ?" she hissed back.

He released her hand then with a small smirk , and tried not to show how pleased he was that she hadn't moved it off his belt.

"Then what is this?" He asked again , more gently this time.

"Gratitude? Relief? A Distraction? ...Does it really matter? " She asked softly.

When he didn't answer , She paused unbuckling his belt.

"Unless...you don't want-"

The doubt filled words were cut off when he once more grabbed her wrist, but this time moved it to cup the bulge forming in his pants.

Her eyes dilated then and her breathing became more rushed , as she hurriedly returned to unbuckling his belt.

He took off his jumper , to get it out of the way, and fought a groan when her hands brushed across the tented front of his pants as she unzipped his jeans.

They didn't take off his jeans , instead just pushed them below his hips and took his underwear with them.

When his eager cock was free of it's confines, she grabbed it firmly in her hand, unashamedly spitting in her palm for lubrication and began to tug on it.

It only took a few strokes for him to be straining against her palm at full mast.

"Don't wake Sam" She hissed to him , then before he could ask what she meant , and much to his surprise, she disappeared under the sheet.

He'd been exceptionally excited at the thought of a clumsy handjob from the beautiful young witch , and as such his brain took a moment to connect with her actions , because before he even realised her intent , she'd whispered a very mild cleansing charm over him, grasped the base of his cock and taken half of him into her mouth.

Grunting in surprised pleasure at her actions , his hips instinctively thrust towards the warmth of her mouth , as his hands fisted in her hair.

Her other hand was cupping his arse , and she dug her nails in a little in reprimand for almost gagging her.

"Sorry " He whispered.

He wasn't even mad she'd used a cleansing charm on him first, to be honest he didn't blame her. There was very little running water to be found , so none of them were looking their best and he'd spent the day doing sweaty manual labour.

She had her hand gripping the base of his cock , slowly tugging on it , while she took the rest of him in her mouth.

Alternating between taking half of him in her mouth , or focusing on licking and sucking the sensitive head, she had him tangling his hands in her hair and trying not to embarrass himself by cumming immediately.

When her other hand moved from his arse , to the front of him to cup his heavy balls , he decided that in the future he'd quite happily scrub himself clean with wire wool at her request, if this was still on the table.

Breathing heavily through his nose to stifle his moans , his hands tightened a little in her hair as he rocked his hips, but more gently this time. She took the hint, and after a few more strokes of his cock , she moved both hands to his arse , to control the rhythm as he thrust into the warmth of her mouth.

He was much too large for her to take all of him , without some serious practice , but she was doing an admiral job of it and even accepting him in her throat on a few of his thrusts.

There was only so much he could do to limit the noise he was making , but he was slightly embarrassed at the very masculine and animal sounding grunts that were escaping him as he thrust gently into her mouth.

It was embarrassingly little time before he found his pleasure reaching it's peak, It'd been too long and her attentions too sweet for him to last any great length of time. So a mere 5 minutes after they'd started , one of the hands in her hair dropped down to squeeze her shoulder in warning of his impending release.

Thankfully she chose to ride out his orgasm , and continued taking him in her mouth as his hips jerked, and he lost his rhythm as his orgasm rushed over him.

He'd covered his face with the pillow to muffle his shout of completion as he shot his load in her warm and waiting mouth.

She'd swallowed his load , which had made him moan and spent cock twitch happily at the visual as she reappeared from under the sheet , daintily wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

They'd worked together to get him tucked back into his trousers and then he'd gone to return the favour , and she'd looked at him shocked but pleased, as it seems she wasn't expecting him to reciprocate.

He'd gone to take her trousers off and she'd stopped him with a blush and just shaken her head.

Though he'd have liked to have gone down on her , especially after the monumental job she'd done on blowing him , he didn't argue with her decision.

So instead he pulled her back into his arms , and had her hook her leg over his.

He unbuttoned her jeans , without taking them off , and slipping his hand in through the front.

It was awkward from this angle, and through her fly , but he wasn't about to complain.

The first touch of his cool fingers on her hot centre, had her burying her face into his chest.

He worked diligently to find and tease her clit , and bring her to her peak.

He'd gone to slip a finger inside her , but she'd stopped him before he could , so he returned his attentions to her needy little clit , as he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She was panting, much as he had, and he fought a self satisfied smirk when he could hear her fighting to hold back her delicious little whimpers she was making.

Her face was buried in his chest, both hands fisted in his shirt.

As she let out soft little gasps and moans , that stroked his ego , as much as she'd stroked his cock.

Her gasps became higher pitched and her hands tightened in his shirt , as she suddenly buried her face in his neck to stifle her needy moan as she came apart on his fingertips.

They were both sleepy and sated , so once they had her zipped back up , they once more found themselves embracing as they settled back on the bed.

They spoke softly together , of everything and nothing , until sleep claimed them.

She spoke of what she'd planned to do before all this started , and he told her of his plan before he'd found them.

There was a Isle called Eigg , off the coast of Scotland, barely anyone knew of it's existence, unlike the other more large and famous ones like the isle of mann or isle of arran.

Eigg was one of the smallest isles off Scotland. Inaccessible unless by boat. Population 87.

He'd planned on making his way to the Isle somehow, and waiting out until the infected died off.

They had no interest in animals , and only fed on humans, so eventually one way or another , their food was going to run out and they'd die off.

Severus had found an immune and trapped it , at a previous safehouse he'd had.

2 months it took to starve to death.

All they'd need to do was wait it out.

But looking at the sleeping woman in his arms , and the frail boy in the chair , he knew that he had to do what was best for all of them now, and there was no way the sickly boy could make the journey to the coast how he was now.

It was up to him now to keep them safe.


	6. Chapter 6

Severus was brooding , as he dug the pits around the windows.

They'd chosen to board two of them up anyway , but it was still a wise choice to add the pits.

If it was just the immune , who were slow, fumbling and unable to anything too complicated , then Severus would have added wards to keep muggles out, rather than have taxed himself digging these pits.

Desperate muggles were more dangerous than immune, he rubbed the bullet scar on his shoulder absentmindedly.

But alas, it was the screamers that were the main problem.

Though thankfully they couldn't swim, one of the reasons Severus's plan of Eigg had come to fruition , they were much more able bodied than the immune.

They could run , climb and open doors if the need arose. Magic attracted them , whether it was magical creatures, magical objects, magical buildings or just plain magic.

Thankfully Magical creatures were immune to the virus, because Fluffy was dangerous enough as it is without that added bloodthirst _thank you very much_. His scarred leg twitched in remembrance.

Though other magical beings could still be killed by the immune who were attracted to them, the only creatures at risk of turning were those that were already half human or more, a feat Severus was unfortunate enough to witness with the half giant Hagrid.

Screamers could sense magic near their location , depending on the strength of magic of course. A weak wandless alohomora for example, like Severus had used on the door, or the weak cleansing charm Hermione had used on him, would only draw screamers nearby...they knew they were probably safe to cast them as the station house offered views of at least a half mile in each direction , and they could see there were no screamers in the area.

Whereas if Severus did put up something like a anti muggle ward, it would draw them from more than half a mile away.

And apparition? Any screamers within a mile radius would come running like moths to the proverbial flame.

Even wands themselves drew the screamers, and Severus had reluctantly left his behind at his home in Manchester when he'd abandoned it.

When the TV's went out , the infection was already in Europe and beyond...He often wondered if the ministries of other countries had managed to do anything, though with the length of time it had been , either they were just as bad or it was easier to leave the little island that was Britain (and the cause of all this) to rot.

The infection started midway through what would have been Hermione's 6th year, after Voldemort's muggle attacks on London that finally broke the statuette of secrecy.

At least he never had to kill Dumbledore. The man fell at Hogwarts, which by the end was more or less a refugee camp for displaced witches and wizards, when the screamers attacked.

 **oOo**

After a while he felt the familiar feeling of being watched.

Hermione had trusted him to watch the boy , and had gone to hunt.

She was smaller than him , and a damn impressive aim with the crossbow.

The boy was inside and he out.

After a quick glance to ensure there were no immune creeping up on him , and causing him the feeling, he glanced up at the window.

Two blue eyes peeked back at him , the quickly disappeared when they saw him looking.

Chuckling he kept his eyes on the window and when the eyes once more appeared he arched an eyebrow at the inquisitive face.

He got a small grin in responce and he laughed to himself as he carried on digging.

 **oOo**

He didn't know how long had passed when Hermione finally returned, and nearly killed him in the process.

"Looks like you have a fan club-..."

"CHRIST!"

He'd whirled around brandishing the shovel , only to meet her smirking face.

"Down boy, unless you don't want feeding?"

She was smiling at him , with mirth in her eyes.

"Merlin's sake woman , don't sneak up on me like that , I could've killed you!"

He said showing her the shovel in his hand.

"Uh-huh" She said incredulously, eyeing his other hand which was clasping over his heart.

"Looks like you're the one about to drop , not me"

He followed her gaze to his hand that was clasping his heart and dropped it with a scowl and she chuckled.

"If the cowardly lion has finished guarding the den" She gestured to the rabbit in her hand

"The lioness has returned from the hunt and brought food"

He knew she'd made the lion jab on purpose, poking at his Slytherin side , but at the prospect of actually eating meat...Real, fresh , cooked meat that did not come out of a tin... he let it go.

"Yes dear" He added dryly and she chuckled.

And so what if he swatted her arse when she walked past , she just laughed and pecked him on the cheek.

 **oOo**

After he'd done a sweep of the area, they sat around the small fire she'd made to cook the the rabbit.

They'd toasted a couple of apples aswell , and the juices made the rabbit meat extra sweet.

Severus was almost crying at the prospect of real food.

She ripped off a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, and he reached for a leg and arched an eyebrow when the small boy copied his movements and reached for a leg too.

Hermione just met his gaze and quirked her lip, laughter dancing in her eyes.

He leaned backwards and held the meat to appraise it and the boy did the same.

Then he made a point of stretching both of his legs out in front of him , which was again mimicked by the boy.

Hermione was struggling to keep her laughter in by this point , and her shoulders were shaking with suppressed mirth.

He met her eyes and offered her a small wink , before flicking his wrist, blowing on the leg and making it 'dissappear' , then preceding to look incredibly shocked when he looked at his 'empty' hands.

Hermione was snorting into her hand now at the boy's dumbfounded expression.

It wasn't something he'd made well known, but he'd practised a lot of 'muggle magic' as a child, things like card tricks and... sleight of hand , which was incredibly confusing to pure blood wizards, and extremely useful as a spy.

And when the boy looked at him wide eyed and then looked at his own meat, Severus was surprised when instead of trying to copy Severus, he instead broke his leg in half and offered part of it to him.

Hermione gave him a tearful smile, and Heart in his throat he pushed the boys piece back to him , and then made his own leg 'reappear' from behind the boy's ear.

The boy then looked at him like he was Merlin himself , and spent the next few minutes blowing on his leg until Hermione had to tell him to just eat it.

When the boy stood up to get another piece , Severus was gobsmacked when instead of returning to his seat he came and sat by his side.

Hermione smiled indulgently at the pair of them and he couldn't help but feel content.

For the first time in years , things weren't so bad.

 **oOo**

That night he once again found himself with a hot little witch in his arms.

She kissed his cheek and ran her hands down his front until she was cupping his hardness.

By unspoken agreement, they didn't want to risk using magic again so soon, so he was more than content when she just grabbed hold of his cock and brought him off with her hands, all the while kissing and nibbling at his neck.

Once more he reciprocated , but this time he pushed her onto her back as he slipped his hand into her pants, pinning her to the mattress with his weight as he kissed and nibbled at her neck.

She moaned and whimpered and spread her legs as much as she could as he traced and teased her wet slit.

And if by an unfortunate accident when he rested his head upon her chest, attempting to catch his breath , he accidentally ran his hot breath over her nipples causing her to arch into his touch...well who was he to deny her ? As he slipped his other hand up her shirt and cupped her through her bra.

With the weight of his body upon her, his hand in her pants and his other on her breast , she came hard and bit his shoulder when she climaxed.

And if that didn't turn him on no end.

He was already aching again, but she was tired so he took himself in hand... but was inordinately pleased when she pulled his other hand to her chest and allowed him to fondle her breasts while he brought himself off.

They cleaned up and tucked themselves away and after checking on Sam , she once more fell asleep in his embrace.

 **oOo**


	7. Chapter 7

They settled into a routine and for a number of weeks it became so domestic that you could almost forget the state of the rest of the world.

But then there was a problem.

Severus had been fortifying the surroundings of the rail house. He'd been bringing fallen branches and sharpening them into spikes around the perimeter.

Sam had been making mud pies when he'd began to point and chatter at something.

Severus had turned and felt his stomach drop.

In the distance just breaking through the tree line...Immune.

Lots of them.

Alone or in small groups they were easily outrun , outmanoeuvred.

This was a herd.

Some strange instinct led the immune to gather together, and they would at time form large 'herds' that slowly moved through areas in search for food.

Severus had dropped what he was doing and ran to Sam , scooping the boy up and throwing him over his shoulder which caused to boy to giggle in humour.

He'd climbed the wall quicker than he'd ever done before, quickly passing Sam to Hermione who was waiting at the window, having hear the mad commotion when he'd dropped what he was doing.

Following the boy through, he moved the dresser in front of the window, sealing them in.

The rest of the herd reached them during the night , and when they awoke in the morning they were completely surrounded.

Hermione looked at him worriedly and Sam started to cry but he just held them close, and promised to protect them both.

 **oOo**

Severus had actually gained some weight for the first time in years. And was going to bed on a night both into the waiting arms of a hot little witch, and minus the crippling hunger pains that had become an old friend over the years.

They'd been doing well since they'd been in the rail house, with both the apple trees outside and Hermione's hunting ability bringing home fresh meat , but now as they had been unable to leave building, with the three of them having to survive solely on the rations inside the building, their supplies were dwindling fast.

They laid low for almost two weeks.

Two weeks that it took for the herd to move through the area and for it to be safe to leave the building.

Sam was the one who struggled the most.

The boy had spent all of his life on the move , and couldn't understand why they were confined to the room, having never done so before.

He was getting upset and _loud_ , until a tearful Hermione had no choice but to calm him with a spell, a weakened imperio, as she was worried about him having an asthma attack.

Severus held the now quietly sobbing boy to his chest until he fell into an exhausted sleep.

Hermione had wept from the guilt of her actions but he'd not let her blame herself, and pulled them both into his arms.

 **oOo**

When it was finally clear enough for them to leave , there was no excuse for it, they had to go into a town.

They needed supplies, supplies that would last.

Meat and Apples were great for now , but neither of those would keep for longer than a few days in the house and if ever they had to wait out another herd , then they would need non perishable items. Dry goods and tinned items which right now they had precious little of.

It was wordlessly decided they'd all go together.

With the herd passing through , it wasn't safe to split up.

They _needed_ to be together.

Severus knew there was nothing the way he'd come from the south , and likewise Hermione knew the way she came from the east was no good either so they moved North.

It was a hard decision, deciding what to take and what to keep with them.

They left some items at the house, but carried most with them.

And it wasn't an easy choice to leave their safe house empty either.

There was always the chance that someone would discover it in the meantime and take it over.

But a stony look from Severus during that conversation was all she needed, and Hermione had set her jaw and simply nodded her agreement in responce.

The message was clear.

If he had to, he would kill for them. To keep them safe.

And Hermione would let him.

They had no desire to harm anyone , but their own safety came first , and if someone attempted to take their safe-house then they would take it back.

 **oOo**

They came to a villaeg about an hour walk from the rail house , they'd travelled in a straight line and were just about to turn around when they saw the signs.

The first thing they had done was climb a large oak tree and _listen._

They'd sat for a good quarter of an hour, listening.

There was some shuffling noises, could be an animal or a few immune.

But there was no voices , so signs of footsteps that were precise or clear like it would be from a person.

And most importantly no howling.

After those 15 minutes, Hermione got down and jogged into the village, even as it made Severus's stomach clench in worry.

Severus was a better fighter and physically stronger , but she was smaller, faster and more agile.

After a harrowing 5 minutes she returned to the edge of the small village with a nod and Severus got out of the tree and began to walk towards Hermione , with Sam on his shoulders.

They'd only gone as far as the first two buildings, very aware of the amount of time they'd already spent away from the safe house.

Once their bags were full they made their way out slowly , Sam wanted to walk so Hermione took the lead and Severus followed, with Sam in the middle of them.

This time when they reached the rail house , it was Severus who went first.

Once he'd cleared all the building they made their way back inside and blocked the entrance.

Sam was already tired, it'd been a long day for the boy and he was done in.

Hermione put him to bed , and then met him in the hall.

 **oOo**

She turned to face the bedroom door.

Her head and palms were resting on the wall beside the closed door as she took a few deep steadying breaths.

Severus didn't need to be told why she was shaking, and taking such deep breaths.

Relief.

They were _home_. They were _safe_.

So many things could have gone wrong today.

But here they were once more.

He walked close to her, standing behind her, his body a hairsbreadth from hers.

Almost instantly he heard her breathing become more rapid , and when he pressed his body against her back she let out a soft moan.

His left hand planted on the wall next to hers and his right snuck around her front.

He knew what she needed.

Roughly he shoved his hand down to her jeans , pushing them until they were just below the swell of her arse.

Groaning he rubbed his erection against the soft curves of her arse as his other hand, that was not on the wall , shoved into her knickers.

The moan that toar from her was deep and low, and he felt her shift her feet slightly, spreading herself further for his attentions.

He pushed himself more firmly into her arse, enjoying the friction and as he worked her he left teasing nibbles on her shoulder.

Her hands were both still planted on the wall , along with her forehead and she was moaning and gasping at his touch.

At one point she went to move back a bit but he pushed forward , pinning her to the wall and she whimpered in responce , hips arcing into his touch.

It didn't take long for her to crest , and then he was moaning at the feel of her body shaking in orgasm.

Once she'd come down from her high and pulled her jeans back up, she'd spun around and dropped to her knees in front of him.

He planted his other hand on the wall for support as she freed him from his jeans and promptly took him in her mouth.

She didn't bother with the cleansing charm this time , instead just grasping his cock and easing it into his mouth.

Hissing in delight, he couldn't help it if his hips began to rock into her movements.

And she moved so well with him it wasn't long before he was grunting her name in warning.

Once more she swallowed all he had to give and he couldn't help but sag against the wall a bit when she stood , as his legs were having trouble holding him.

When she stood in front of him, she absentmindedly tucked his hair behind his ear and he looked at her.

The moment when she jogged into the village plagued his mind.

 _I could've lost her today._

And he crushed her into his embrace.

Holding her tightly to him, pressing his face into her hair and inhaling her scent.

She just held back , just as tightly .


	8. Chapter 8

He didn't know how long it had been now in the rail house.

Weeks? Months? Half a year ?

He'd certainly never stayed this long in one place before.

Sam seemed bigger every day and Severus had wondered why the boy didn't speak.

He'd heard him call her mummy, but other than that he just tended to grunt or gesture with his hands.

"He's hard of hearing, at least half deaf as far as I can tell. He got really bad sick one winter when he was a baby and never really recovered from it"

"I make sure he reads my lips...I wish I could learn sign language to teach him but..." She shrugged then and smiled sadly at him, and he just held her close.

He pulled her into a hug, and didn't question it any further.

Though he made sure that Sam was looking at him when he was talking from then on, so he was certain the boy had understood him.

 **oOo**

They continued to find comfort in each other's arms, though Severus was torn.

Comfort was all it was. Of that he was certain. She would touch him , or blow him and he'd bring her off with his hands.

They never went any further than that, and they never kissed on the lips.

But _gods_ how he wanted to.

He saw the woman she was, what she'd become.

Fierce, Brave, Protective.

They had discussions on potions, charms, arithmancy, alchemy...anything to stop their minds from stagnating.

And he felt his heart constrict whenever she was out of his sight.

He told the traitorous thing to behave.

He was only a distraction for her... someone trustworthy to wile away the hours, and not a serious paramour.

He was just...convenient.

He tried not to let that sting.

 **oOo**

Neither of them knew how much things were about to change between them.

They made the journey to the village once more. Again they decided not to separate.

It was an hour from the house. too far away for one to go alone, so they went together or not at all.

On the way home they decided to detour towards the river, to get some water and to bathe.

It was there they came upon a group of others.

Severus cursed as the group of muggles became apparent at the other side of the river.

The sound of the water had covered their approach, so they didn't see them until they reached the banks.

The river must only have been 20ft across but he reacted instantly and threw himself in-front of Hermione, and dragged Sam behind him... it felt like danger was only a hairsbreadth away.

He had his bat in hand, and Hermione her crossbow, She stood sideways on to him to ensure they weren't being flanked.

Though it was clear from the uneasy expressions on their faces, they had come upon them by accident.

There were four boys, and two girls, each around Hermione's age, when suddenly one of the boys shouted out in a thick Irish accident

"Alright Hermione?"

The others, clearly muggles looked questioningly to the boy who'd shouted.

Hermione's hand on her crossbow didn't waver.

"Alright Seamus"

The half blood boy had grown up muggle, so it was easy for him to blend in it seemed.

He'd grown tall since Severus last saw him, though not as tall as Severus himself.

The boy eyed Severus uneasily, and then his eyes flicked to Sam.

Severus pushed the boy further behind him.

"Is that... Ron's boy?"

"Yes."

"And Ron?"

"Dead"

The boy nodded grimly at that."Anyone else?"

She recounted her and Severus's list to him, and he sent a few back.

 _Dean Thomas_

 _Padma and Pavarti_

 _Hannah Abbot_

Throughout Hermione never dropped her crossbow.

There was silence for a moment as they considered each other , and the other members of his group spoke to Seamus.

"Any screamers about?"

"Not seen any. But immune herd moved through recently. big one"

"Heading which way?"

"East"

"How many?"

"Hundreds"

There was some cursing then from the others, it was obvious that had been their destination.

Once more he eyed Severus distrustfully, and more than one of them were keeping their eyes on the dour man.

"The two of you alright?"

It was clear he meant Hermione and Sam, given the glare he levelled at Severus

"Fine"

A long pause then...

"You want to come with us?"

Severus's stomach lurched. This was where she'd leave him.

Seamus was her friend, a gryffindor and her age.

They had a strong group, including other girls.

He swallowed the stone in his throat, but relaxed his posture and moved slightly to the side.

If she wanted to leave , he would not stop her.

"No thanks, we're good, but best you be heading off yeah ?"

It wasn't a question.

And Severus' heart leapt into his throat.

 _She chose me._

It was clear they hadn't been expecting that, and a few of the others tightened their grip on their weapons, taking a step forward eyeing them and their bags.

He raised the bat over his shoulder, the movement making his jumper go tight across his broad shoulders as Hermione notched an arrow.

A small gesture from Seamus , a shake of his head, had the others stepping down.

"Be seeing you then"

"Yeah"

"East huh?"

"That's what I said"

 **oOo**

He didn't drop his stance until they were well out of ear and eyeshot.

When he did, he picked the boy up and began to jog, they didn't need to tell each other they were going the indirect route back to the rail house.

Both of them instinctively heading in the same direction, they had no intentions of leading any of them to their safe house.

The indirect route would take them through a large field, meaning they couldn't be followed without being noticed.

Sure enough they caught a glimpse of a boy falling back when they hit the open meadow.

They continued to jog random and obscure paths, meandering through the woods until they were sure they'd lost their tail. Then they doubled back to the river, trecking through it a short distance so that they had no footprints to follow.

Once they reached the rail house, Severus double checked all the fortifications and made sure the armoire was blocking the window.

When Sam had eaten his dinner, Hermione put him to bed.

Once she was certain the boy was asleep, she dragged Severus into the single with her.

For the first time that night, they kissed.

Truly kissed.

As Severus basked in the warmth of the woman in his arms.

I'm not just convenient... _She chose me._


	9. Chapter 9

Severus was torn.

One the one hand his life was the best he could ever remember it being.

He had a beautiful witch, who was fierce and smart. She challenged him intellectually, and entertained him immensely as well as caring for him dutifully. On top of that, she warmed his heart and his bed every night.

He also had her son. A young boy, who was decidedly not a dunderhead, nor was he afraid of him. And despite the fact he was Weasley's progeny, he Idolised Severus and looked at him like he was Merlin himself.

They had a 'home' if one could call the rail house that, but it was a safe place to rest his head. Which was more than could be said for the house he grew up in. It was a place that provided food, shelter, safety and comfort.

Then why was he torn? Because he felt guilty for being happy. It was the 'end of the world', and he was thinking how happy he was playing 'house'. It felt like it was wrong for him to be so happy, so content, when the rest of the world had gone to shit.

It goaded on him for so long, Hermione had finally snapped and asked what was wrong with him. She'd been tearful and he realised his brooding must have come across as unhappiness to her. She'd been afraid he was unhappy, maybe even wanting to leave. He told her, confided in her, his reservations, his feelings about the state of the world.

"Fuck the world"

Was her emphatic answer, and he reeled back as if she'd physically struck him.

"Seriously Severus, what the fuck has the world ever done for us? We both spent the best part of our lives before all this happened fighting evil in its various forms, along with all the other shit that got thrown at us. Well this is just another shitty thing we have to fight, but now you want to be guilty because in between all the bouts of madness you've found a way to be happy? No. _Fuck that_. Who knows when life's going to shit on us again, we need to enjoy it while we can."

And that was the end of it. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her for so long they were both gasping at the end and Sam started giggling at them, which turned into raucous laughter when Severus growled and grabbed him and swung him upside down by his legs, and Hermione tickled the small boy in his grasp.

 **oOo**

Hermione and Severus still hadn't had sex, but every night they were closer and closer. Each night they would kiss passionately and bring each other pleasure. She was eager to please him and would happily take him in her mouth or her hand and bring him to climax, and she enjoyed when he put his hands on her and stroked her to orgasm, though she still had not allowed him any further than that.

He ached for her. Physically ached for her, as he felt her beautiful body pressed into him, but emotionally as well. He longed to complete their connection, to be one with her. But he was no bastard, she obviously had her reasons for holding back on physical intimacy and he would not force her, though he couldn't help it if every night he held her a little tighter than before.

They travelled to the village for supplies when they needed to, each time they went a little further in. Much to Sam's delight they discovered a small playground, and after Severus tested everything to make sure it was safe, they spent some time there pushing the boy on the swings or watching him on the slide. The slide itself was safe, but the stairs were wood and had rotted away, so after each slide down he would run back to Severus smiling with arms outstretched and Severus picked him up and placed him back at the top.

It was on one of these trips they found a small store, the village was a small one and by the state of it, it looks like the infected had overcome it pretty quickly. They'd been unprepared, and so most of the buildings they'd come to had been mostly intact. They had been take by surprise, and so there had been no time for panic and looting.

Severus had found a shelf of children's toys and books and pulled them down, tasking Sam with the very important job of choosing the ones he liked the look of and putting them in his small bag. Hermione was going through the medical supplies, taking a few of each as It was unwise to hoard everything in one space. It was better to leave some here, in case for whatever reason they had to flee the rail-house, they would not want to leave behind all the supplies, so they only took what they needed and a few spares, then stashed the rest behind a shelf, knowing there was more here to come back to.

It was during this supply run that Severus found her contemplating a box in her hand, and he walked over to her. She blushed when he caught her gaze, and looked away shyly but didn't stop what she was doing.

 _Condoms._ She was looking at condoms.

He gave her a heated look and she blushed prettily, then went to stuff the box in her bag with a look of embarrassment. Grabbing her hand he stopped her, taking the box off of her and putting it back on the shelf. She gave him a questioning, almost hurt look, until he smirked and reached onto the shelf and passed her a another box. Condoms, though the next size up from the ones she'd picked up. He quirked his eyebrow at her and her face flamed, as she stuffed them quickly into her bag, then after a moments thought grabbed another box and shoved them in too. He chuckled at that but couldn't help laughing when she also shoved some waxing strips and razors in her bag.

She shot him a glare then and threw a men's deodorant at his head, with a smirk of her own and he only chuckled. Until he saw the brand of deodorant she'd thrown at him. _Old Spice._ She quirked her eyebrow at him and he scowled at her.

Then with a smirk he threw a bottle of conditioner in the bag, not so subtly running his fingers through his hair.

She scowled, but then her lips quirked into a grin.

 _The war was on._

Walking backwards a few steps, she threw a men's razor in. And stroked her chin.

He smiled ruefully at that as he moved towards her, _fair point_ he conceded, he was rocking the Grizzly Adams look a bit recently.

Another step and he threw a women's deodorant at her and she chuckled, she actually tossed it back and got a better one.

She threw a box of black hair dye at him with a smirk, he had the odd grey now but so did she, stress did that to you, mind you it was only him that vainly attempted to pluck the odd greys from his raven locks with a scowl.

Closer he got to her and he grabbed a bottle of tablets. They were women's herbal ones, and said they alleviated PMS symptoms.

She snorted, but conceded the point, she was _scary_ when she was pms-ing.

Her back had pressed up against the wall and she tossed a packet at him with a teasing smile.

He took one look at the packet in his hands and threw it on the floor with a growl, as he pinned her to the wall with his kiss.

"As if I'd ever need stamina enhancers with you witch" He snarled into her ear "I can barely keep my hands off you"

They kissed hard and fast, her hand fisted in the back of his hair, but he suddenly stopped and broke the kiss when he heard a strange noise.

Pulling away from her he paused and looked at her.

"Hermione, what was-"

But he didn't get to finish, as a second after he took in the cheeky grin she was sporting, her other hand came up and slapped his cheek. Only it was filled with shaving foam.

He was so shocked he didn't know what to do for a moment, until he saw her laughing so hard she could barely stand up, then he quickly grabbed a tin shoved it under her shirt and squeezed.

She squeaked out as the cold spray coated her, and jerked back from his embrace, lifting her shirt to see what he'd done.

Glitter. It was children's glitter hairspray, and she was coated in the sparkly stuff.

She was about to pounce on him when suddenly something hit the side of her face with a wet splat, before it hit the floor.

They both turned to see Sam laughing harder than they'd ever seen him as Hermione brought her hands to her sticky cheek.

Severus took one laugh at her and started chortling so loud he had to sit down. Sam crawled into his lap and they both couldn't stop laughing at the shell-shocked Hermione, who eventually gave in to her own laughter and ended up sat on the floor with the two of them.

The boy had pelted her with 'Slime', a children's toy it was a tube of gelatinous colourful gloop that served no purpose other than being dreadfully sticky and slimy, but years old as it was, it had fallen to pieces when it impacted her face and she was coated in the stuff.

Hermione grabbed a handful of the slime from her shirt and threw it at Sam who tried to dodge it, but was met with a handful of foam that Severus had wiped off his face.

And there the three of them sat, in the derelict and abandoned shop, smiling and laughing at each other's expense.


	10. Chapter 10

It was late into summer, and the sun shone harshly down on them as they made their way down the obscured road.

Sam was a lot better since Severus started making balms for him, that Hermione would rub on the boy's chest.

He was nowhere near as healthy as a normal boy of his age should be, but he was a different creature entirely from the pale and sickly boy that Severus had first laid eyes on.

They stopped by the river on the way back to the rail house, and made use of the toiletries that they'd just plundered from the village store.

Severus tried not to laugh, when she'd told him to turn around and he'd heard her pained squeak as she made use of the waxing strips.

But he was more preoccupied with the fact that for the first time, Hermione had stripped down to her underwear as she bathed in the river.

Oh he'd seen her knickers before, and her bra clad breasts, but not at the same time. And not during the day.

This was the first time he'd been able to appreciate her full form in the daylight.

Sam was on the riverbank, in the shallower water, playing with a floating rubber duck he'd picked up in the store, having already been bathed by Hermione.

Severus was shirtless and attempting to shave his beard, using the reflection of himself in the water, whilst trying to surreptitiously hide his heated looks at Hermione.

Suddenly he hissed as he cut himself, and then growled in annoyance at the blood he felt welling there.

Hermione had turned her head and come over as he angrily rinsed the mens razor in the water.

Suddenly a warm hand was on his bare chest, and he turned to see Hermione stood right before him.

Her pale skin seemed to shine in the light, accentuated by the glitter he'd sprayed on her that was refusing to be washed off.

She looked like some woodland sprite or nymph.

It was only when her small hand raised to his face, he realised that she'd taken the razor from him.

He lifted his chin a little at her prompting, as she ran the razor over his sharp jaw.

His eyes met hers with a heated look, as despite the summer warmth he felt her pebbled nipples digging into his chest.

He knew she'd equally be able to feel his erect cock pressing into her, and was thankfully that the black bottoms he wore would conceal his state from Sam.

Allowing himself the small indulgence he stroked his hand down the soft skin of her back, before ending with cupping her arse and pulling her close to him.

She had gained a number of scars over the years, as he had, though none detracted from her beauty.

When she was finished she urged him to rinse his face, which he did by diving into the deeper part of the river, she came closer to him until they were both treading water, she a scant few inches away from him.

She had just moved to close the distance between them when his blood went cold.

From the bank came an excited shout, as he saw Sam waving.

"Hi Hi Hi !" The boy was smiling and waving...

At the immune that was making his steady way toward him.

 **oOo**

"SAM!" Severus bellowed and had launched himself towards the river bank.

Instead of running as Severus had hoped, the boy just turned slightly to look at him in confusion as he came thundering out of the water.

He heard Hermione screaming for the boy behind him, but it was all a blur as the immune reached for Sam , who was still facing Severus and due to his hearing loss, totally unaware.

As a boy, Severus had never played football like most British boys, but instead had played rugby. That paid off now when he threw himself bodily into the immune, tackling it to the ground.

He was shirtless, with no weapon within grasp as the immune fought underneath him, trying to sink his teeth in. From his position on the sandy riverbank there wasn't even a big stick within reach to use as a weapon.

He heard Sam screaming, and froze when he heard the _shwick_ noise of the crossbow releasing, though when it didn't impact the immune in his grasp (for Hermione never missed) he realised there must be another one of them.

With a grunt he grabbed a small stick and pushed it into the immune's mouth, the thing bit down instinctively on it.

Then he pushed the immune down and slammed his fist into its face, closing his mouth and eyes against the blood, lest he too be infected.

He punched over and over again until he ceased to feel the motions beneath him, only then did he wipe his face and open his eyes.

Skull caved in, the thing was dead. Truly dead. Destroying the brain was the only way to kill them.

Quickly he launched to his feet and turned to find Hermione holding a crying Sam , another immune dead at their feet, crossbow protruding from between it's eyes.

Unlike the one he'd killed, which was freshly turned enough for it to appear human to the untrained eye, or to a young boy like Sam, the one Hermione had killed was old and rotten, likely it had been dead a long time.

When Sam saw Severus he started bawling loudly, and thrashing in Hermione's grasp trying to escape it.

He realised he was covered in blood, after having just bashed the thing's head in and Sam was probably terrified of him, the thought caused a stab of pain to lance through his gut.

Moving back to the water he washed himself carefully of all blood, making sure once more to not get any in his mouth or eyes, then made his way back to the two of them, pulling his shirt on from where it was discarded on the bank.

He was astounded when the crying boy, instead of recoiling in fear held out his arms to Severus while sobbing.

Taking hold of the boy without hesitation he felt the lad running his hands all over his face and neck, still crying, before planting wet kisses on his cheek and burying his face into his neck and hugging him tightly.

Severus hugged the boy back, and buried his face in the small boys hair, taking in his scent as his body shook as the adrenaline began to wear off.

 _He was nearly killed because you were too busy in the river, thinking of his mother's tits._

Hermione, shaking herself but now dressed, came over and wrapped her arms around his waist from the side, pressing her face into his shoulder.

"I thought he was scared of me" He told her softly as he still held the crying boy in his arms tightly

"He thought you'd been bitten" She whispered. "He didn't realise it was an immune until you tackled it" She said, confirming his earlier suspiscions.

"He's not afraid of muggles?" Severus asked her carefully. "Not this one...why should he be when we weren't before?"

He turned to asses the bloody mess of the freshly turned immune, but it was the clothes that struck a memory with him.

"This one was with Seamus?" He asked carefully, and she nodded.

"His leg was bandaged and he was limping, I noticed when we saw them"

Sure enough a bloody bandage was still tied around the corpse's leg.

"He must have fell behind" She said softly, and he could only nod.

"Lets go home" He said and she acquiesced grabbing the bags and her crossbow as Severus had yet to let go of Sam.

Sam was still sniffling but refused to let go of Severus, and Severus found he had no intentions of letting him go either.


	11. Chapter 11

It was only when they got home that Severus realised just how lucky he'd been.

Not only for Sam, but for himself.

Hermione had ran her hand down his face as they laid in bed, as if committing his features to memory, when she encountered the small nick on his jaw from the razor blade.

It was only when her widened eyes met his that he suddenly grasped the weight of the situation.

When he'd closed his eyes and looked away from the immune he was pummelling to death, he'd instinctively turned away to his right, meaning the left hand side of his face and all of his chest had been covered in blood. If in that split second he had turned to the left...then the right hand side of his face would have been covered in blood. The side with the cut. He would've been infected.

They didn't pleasure each other that night, they barely even slept. They just held each other closely and breathed each other in.

He traced her features with his hands, every line and nuance of her face and she did the same to him.

When Sam awoke from a nightmare that night, he crawled into the bed between them and into Severus's arms. He awoke with the boy pillowed on his chest.

The next day Severus was sick. It felt like a bad case of the flu, but there were no words that needed to be said between him and Hermione. With a longing look, he packed a bag and left the rail-house the next day. Sam had cried and wanted to kiss him, and it had broken his heart to push the boy away.

He'd never prayed for flu so hard in his lifetime.

He spent three days violently ill, sheltering in a van about an hour's walk from the rail house. When his fever broke on the third day, he wept with relief.

On the fourth day he returned to the rail house. When Hermione saw his bedraggled form walking towards her, she'd lifted her crossbow and aimed it with trembling arms.

When he smiled at her, she'd thrown the crossbow on the floor and ran the distance between them, throwing herself into his arms the same way she had done the first time she saw him.

She'd kissed the breath from him, and their tears had mingled as they both sobbed in relief. When he put her down a minute later a small form barrelled into his legs with such force it sent them all careening to the ground.

The boy wouldn't be dissuaded and planted sloppy childish kisses on his face, whilst wrapping his arms around his neck like devil's snare, until Hermione had to remind him that he still needed to breathe.

The boy loosened his grip, but wouldn't let go of him and Severus had to carry him back to the house.

 **oOo**

On one of the trips to the town, they'd found an old folding room divider and decided to bring it back to the rail-house. It gave them some privacy in the bed, and gave Sam his own 'room' which he was thrilled with.

The night of his return, as soon as Sam was asleep, Hermione had dragged him forwards and proceeded to snog him so hard it made his toes curl.

With a blush she'd stopped him from touching her, and told him 'in a few days' , and he'd understood. It hadn't stopped her from touching him though.

They kissed passionately as she stroked him through his trousers, cupping and stroking the bulge that formed there.

She stroked his cock with her hand, in the same rhythm she stroked his tongue with her own. He was left a groaning mess before she even took him out of his trousers.

They'd never stripped fully, due to not having much privacy, and fear of being caught unawares, but with the rail house fortified, the screen divider and the fear and frustration of the last few days, she wasn't taking no for an answer.

He was aching for her as she eased him out of his shirt, and much to his pleasure took off her own. He palmed her breasts through the bra and moaned in delight when she took that off too, leaving her naked from the waist up for the first time.

Dropping his head to her chest he kissed her breasts, causing her to whimper in delight, then wrapped his lips around one rosy nipple.

She hissed at his actions, one hand fisted in his hair to keep him at her chest, the other reaching into his pants to pull out his weeping cock.

" _Gods_ Hermione" he whispered into her chest and she used her feet to push his pants and trousers off until he was totally naked. Apart from his socks, which he tried not to think about.

Laid on her side, she pressed herself fully into him, until their legs were tangled and their chests were skin to skin. They kissed as though they could survive off the taste of each other alone, all the while her delicious breasts pressed into his chest.

He brought one hand up to cup her breast, running his thumb over the hardened peak of her nipple. She gasped into his mouth and squeezed his cock, which made him close his eyes in rapture.

It was awkward, how close they were pressed together, arms crossed, his on her glorious tits and hers wanking his cock to perfection, but fuck if it wasn't the most arousing thing he'd ever done.

She was the driving force behind the kiss, and he gladly went willingly wherever she wanted to lead him as she suckled, licked and nipped at his tongue and plundered his mouth, all the while her hand tugged on his cock like it was going out of fashion.

Moaning into her mouth, he felt his balls get tighter as she continued to pump his length.

"Fuck. Fuck Hermione...going to come " He panted quietly into her mouth.

"Severus..." She gasped back and kissed him.

"Fuck... Hermione...I Love you..." He meant every word of it...but hadn't meant to say it out loud.

His eyes widened when hers filled with tears, and he was afraid he'd gone and ruined everything until her hand increased the pressure on his cock and she sobbed into his mouth.

"I love you... Severus...I love you so much... come for me love"

It was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard, and as her declaration of love spilled from her lips his eyes rolled up and his back arched as he spilled himself over her hands and soft belly.

She brought him to climax once more with her mouth that night, and they spent so long kissing their lips were bruised in the morning.

 **oOo**

Two more infected drifted through that week, leaving them on edge. One was killed by Hermione while hunting, another killed by Severus. It had got caught in one of the window trenches during the night while they slept, and he killed it before the others awoke.

One of the infected had come from Seamus's group as well. It seems they caught up with the herd. Or the herd caught up with them.

They had timed how long it took to go from the fields at the edge of their view, to the rail house, so every half an hour Severus and Hermione took turns to climb the wall and take a lookout around them. The overgrown farmers fields provided little in the way of cover, so it would be easy to see immune or muggles in their line of sight.

They were planning for another lock in. If the herd had got turned around, or there was another on it's way then they needed to fill the house with provisions.

Severus had managed to get an old manual water pump working. It was older than the rail house, and originally designed for animals , as it took water from a nearby stream. It wasn't the most sanitary, but it was safer and quicker than bringing bottles back from the river. For days they kept a fire going and boiled it first before bottling it up and storing it inside the house.

It was only a few days later that Severus was cutting down some trees and fortifying the rail house with even more wooden pikes outside, as well as cutting down smaller pieces for kindling, that were small enough to use with the tiny camping grill they kept inside the rail-house for when it wasn't safe to cook outside.

Hermione was sat by the fire, working with some rabbit furs. It was still summer, but she kept the furs of every animal she killed, and crudely tanned them. They wouldn't be winning any fashion contests with the discoloured furs, but winter was always on their minds, and the fur blankets she were making would be a godsend.

Sam was playing in the dirt near him with a small trowel, digging and making castles from the small pieces of kindling and Severus continued chopping wood.

Suddenly Sam screamed and Severus nearly dropped the axe on his foot when he turned around.

There was an immune almost upon Sam, it was rotten and legless and so had been dragging itself over the ground.

He lurched forward grabbing Sam and violently throwing him backwards as the teeth snapped towards him.

A vicious kick caved in the things skull and ceased it's movement, but Sam would not stop screaming.

He turned to see Hermione's distraught face, and dipped his vision to see where she was looking.

The blood on his hands.

Flowing blood.

It was his own.

He wiped it away enough to see the thing had bitten off the tip of his pinky finger.

Pain and regret flooded his system, and he turned to face Hermione.

She held the wood axe in her hand, and was sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I love you both" he whispered, and closed his eyes.

The last thing he saw was Hermione raising the axe towards him, then Everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**Little teaser for you guys, thought a short update instead of no update, real life continues to get in the way this time of year !**

 **Also a reminder of the 'Horror' tag in this story...**

* * *

 **oOo**

 _Pain._ Unlike anything he could remember, radiating like molten lava from his hand and flowing in his veins like liquid fire.  
Sweat slicked skin and heated flesh. Exhaustion, muscle and bone deep. The effects of a thousand miles ran in so many moments. _Delirium_

He felt his throat constrict around the noises he was shaping, though words were foreign to him, replaced with growls, howls and guttural noises.

There was a burning under his skin, the crawling of a thousand insects.

Thirst.

Hunger.

Gods the _hunger._

Familiar sounds, voices...people?

Smells. Hot, meat... _food._

Back arched. Teeth snapped and clenched.

Hands and legs restrained. Tied down to something, held back.

Hands touching his face, a voice reaching towards him... biting hard down on something, once in his mouth his jaw locked and his body refused to let go of it, then hot fresh blood sliding down his throat.

Screaming, crying but not his own. A Woman. A Child. _Were they his?_

There was something between his brain and his body, thoughts swirled around in his head, elusive like a mist.

 _No. Stop, don't do that._

His eyes remained shut, words refused to form.

Teeth snapping, more taste of blood. More crying.

His body wasn't listening to him anymore...


	13. Chapter 13

_Teeth snapping, more taste of blood. More crying._

 _His body wasn't listening to him anymore..._

* * *

His eyes finally opened to his surroundings, though his vision was hazy and there was an unpleasant humming in his head, an unwelcome counterpart to the throbbing pain in his bandaged hand.

Hunger rolled in his stomach, and he tried to speak, to shout out but his tongue wouldn't form the words.

Attempting to sit up and remove the bandage he met with resistance, and growled at the strips of fabric that were tying him to the bed.

It was then he noted his shirt. He was wearing a white shirt, but it was spattered with blood.

 _What in Merlin's name?_

It was then that movement caught his eye, and he turned to face the door where a sickly pale looking Hermione walked in, who had her own bandaged hand.

 _Hermione!_

He lurched towards her and she screamed, but once more his tongue wouldn't form her name. The restraints pulled him back, as he tried to reach for her and when they wouldn't give he collapsed back on the bed with a growl.

Hermione was crying with her back to the wall, _he wanted to go to her dammit._ So he pulled against his bonds once more with a frustrated growl. Once more he was held back and he practically howled in frustration.

She'd sank to the floor crying, and he was desperate to get to her, to soothe her, to get her attention as he struggled against the bonds that held him.

Finally one restraint gave way, but it was his bandaged hand and he was struggling to undo the other with it.

Hermione flinched at every one of his frustrated growls, and stayed sobbing upon the floor.

There was a pitter patter of small feet, and Severus looked up to see Samuel looking at him with wide eyes.

Severus reached out a hand to the boy, and Sam shouted out in elation and ran the distance between them.

It was then that Hermione noticed his presence as she screamed for him to stop, but it was too late as the boy barrelled his weight against Severus's chest and Severus buried his face in the boy's neck.

...

* * *

...

Severus breathed in the scent of the boy, and held on as tightly as he could with his one hand. Hermione shot over and wrapped her hands around him and for a second he thought she was going to pull the boy out of his arms. Then she looked into his eyes, and saw the hurt there at her actions and she _knew._

"S-severus?" Her voice was tremulous and full of pain.

Instead of trying to form words, he simply cupped her cheek with his hand and she sobbed. It was like her strings had been cut as collapsed on his chest alongside Samuel, a sobbing wreck as she clung to him as though he may disappear.

He held onto them both as tightly as he could with his one arm, then giving a tug on the other he felt her release it, then he scooped them both into his chest and held on tightly.

The three of them lay there in a ball of arms and legs and tears, until Hermione eventually calmed enough to look at him and see the question in his eyes.

"I thought you'd turned...it's been days since your were bitten, you were so sick but-" Here she unwrapped the bandage on his hand, and he stared at the still healing wound.

He was missing the little finger and the ring finger next to it, right down to the knuckle.

"I had to think fast, I thought if I could cut it off before it spread, you might not turn...I'm sorry"

He shook his head no and pulled her closer, then gestured to his shirt and his mouth, all the while still cradling Sam against his side.

"Oh right..um... I didn't know, I thought maybe you were infected...but it turns out you were _infected._ You got an infection from the wound in your hand, and at one point you were seizing and bit your tongue. I managed to get something into your mouth but you bit so hard you cracked a tooth, that's what all the blood is from, your tongue and tooth. When the fever hit, I thought for sure you'd turn. I'm sure you'll be able to talk again once the swelling goes down"

He nodded at her explanation, then gestured to her own bandaged hand.

"You were thrashing so much in convulsions you hurt yourself, you grabbed me and sprained my wrist, but it's getting better now" He made a remorseful face and pressed a kiss on her bandaged hand, and she once more fell against his chest.

His hand once more cupped her cheek, and there was no mistaking his thoughts.

"We...we haven't left in days. It's been... days? Two weeks? I lost track."

He shook his head, but still pulled them closer and dropped a kiss on both of their heads.

"Severus?" She said softly, looking into his eyes.

His warmed as he looked upon her.

"I love you...but you stink"


	14. Chapter 14

_"Severus?" She said softly, looking into his eyes._

 _His warmed as he looked upon her._

 _"I love you...but you stink"_

* * *

After a quick perimeter run, Hermione was confident enough to use a very mild cleaning charm over his body, and then use a small amount of water to damp a cloth for the rest. She hadn't been bathing him, despite the fever sweats as she had no intention of casting any magic close to him when he could've been turning, nor did she want to waste the water when they were stuck in the house for an indefinite amount of time. He would still be housebound for a couple of days at least as he got over the worst of the infection, so they still didn't want to use all of the water they had stored in the house.

They couldn't stop touching each other. A hug, a kiss or a simple hand on the shoulder. They were both all too aware of how close they had come, twice now, to losing him. Both times as he put himself between them and danger. There was a heat in her eyes as she looked at him, and It went unsaid between them that there would be no more risk taking, not until they had truly known each other.

Sam refused to leave his side, tucked into Severus ribs he was showing him some of the picture books he had acquired from their last trip, along with the drawings he'd attempted. Including one of Severus himself, that in the typical childhood way, was less than flattering of his person. However Samuel had drawn it for him, and showed him it proudly with a smile, so Severus of course remarked greatly over his skill as Hermione, tucked into his other side, smiled warmly at the pair of them.

They ate a small meal and Hermione settled Sam to bed, much to his reluctance. The boy was falling asleep on his feet, but hadn't wanted to leave Severus's side. It was only through Hermione's insistence that Severus would still be here in the morning, that she finally got the boy to settle down. Severus himself could not believe how exhausted he was. He'd only been awake for a few hours and had done nothing except lay prone in bed and wax lyrical over Sam's artistic ability,of the drawing that had him looking like the bastard lovechild of Dracula and Pinocchio.

Hermione tucked herself into bed beside him, and wasted no time at all in situating herself into his arms. For his part he held her as tightly as he could, breathing in the scent of her hair, of _her._ She placed soft kisses upon his chest and neck, and he felt the few tears that silently leaked from her eyes. When they heard Sam's breathing slow and knew he was asleep, she reached up and began to kiss him properly.

She kissed him with a desperation, born of the relief she must be feeling after the torturous days he'd put her through as he teetered between life and death. Strange that something as small as a finger, could've been the death of him.

He desperately wanted her, desperately wanted to be with her. And he could tell from the burning passion in her eyes, that she was desperate to break out the condoms she'd pilfered and put them to good use. It was no good though, as the sickness had drained his energy and even if his life depended on it, he didn't think he could summon enough energy to make love to her that night.

It didn't matter though, as soon her soft warm hands were moving from their position on his chest, lower until they were playing with the sparse soft hairs around his groin. He groaned desperately at her actions, feeling the swelling at his crotch as her hand teased him just a few scant inches away from where he desperately needed her to be.

At that point he was ready to mount her even if it ended up killing him, and just as he was about to attempt to get his leg over, she pushed a little on him, making him settle back into the bed with a questioning expression.

"Let me take care of you, for one more night" She whispered, and then her hands were slipping below the waist of pants.

He groaned as her small hand, wrapped around his straining organ and began to stroke him to perfection. If he didn't already know she was a witch, he would've known it in that moment, for there was no other word for what she was doing to him, other than magical. The way she stroked him with the perfect rhythm and pressure. She squeezed him just right, and the flick of her wrist on the upstroke around his sensitive head, made him see stars. He was aware that he was panting now, sweating again and undoing their hard work earlier but neither of them seemed to care. She threw a possessive leg over his, until she was straddling and sitting on his thighs, as she pushed his underwear down to his thighs so he was exposed to her. Her other hand slipped down to cradle the heavy weight of his sack as she continued to stroke him in a devastating rhythm. All his self control was absent, as he lay like a fool, slack-jawed and staring at her with open lust and admiration as she straddled him and jerked him to completion.

It was only a hand job, something he'd received from her countless times before but somehow it was just _more._ Her own eyes were dark and hooded with passion, as she alternated between watching his awestruck face, and staring at his rigid cock and heavy balls. He was lost when he heard her softly moan, and felt his balls drawing up. She tugged on his sack, resisting their ascent and allowing him to marginally prolong his orgasm. When he came his cock jerked in her hand, and his vision swam as he jerked pulse upon pulse of his essence over her hands and his chest, the result of two weeks abstinence while he was rolling around in delirium. _  
_

Throughout his climax she continued to pump his cock until he was totally spent and had nothing left to give her, holding on to his rigid organ until it slackened in her hand. Her other was gently rolling his balls and he shuddered in pained pleasure at the over-sensitisation as little aftershocks continued to ripple through him. When he was truly done, she grabbed the damp clothe from earlier and wiped him down once more.

Once clean, he reached for her but she pushed him back to the bed. "Sleep, conserve your energy, I just wanted to help you relax my love" She kissed him gently and he responded with gratitude for the reprieve, for as much as he would've loved to give her a good seeing to, he was well and truly knackered.

"Tomorrow?" He asked, murmured it into the skin of her neck as he kissed it sensuously.

It was a loaded question and they both knew it, she didn't need any more explanation.

If the heat in her gaze as she responded was anything to go by.

"Gods Yes."


	15. Chapter 15

_"Tomorrow?" He asked, murmured it into the skin of her neck as he kissed it sensuously._

 _It was a loaded question and they both knew it, she didn't need any more explanation._

 _If the heat in her gaze as she responded was anything to go by._

 _"Gods Yes."_

* * *

They spent the day restocking the rail house. Hermione went hunting, now she was able to leave Sam in Severus's care, whilst Severus spent the day boiling pan after pan of water from the pump to replenish the stores in the house. He also made a point of examining the perimeter and stamping down a lot of the surrounding grass. Now nothing could get within a 50 yards of the rail house without them seeing it, even if it did happen to be on the ground. As he eyed his hand, and the two missing fingers he clenched his jaw in determination. It would not be a mistake they made again.

Once that was done, Severus set to checking on all the wooden spikes he'd driven into the ground surrounding the building and had set Sam with the task of collecting as many fallen apples from the tree as he could, and the boy pleased to have been given a 'serious' job, went at it with vigour.

As the hours dragged on he became more and more nervous, but when the sun began to sink into the horizon he spotted Hermione walking carefully back, and released a tension he didn't now he'd been holding. Hermione returned with a couple of rabbits and they all ate the first proper meal they had partaken in a long time. Sat in front of the fire, with the first proper food, cooked well, in over 2 weeks was to the three of them like ambrosia, and had a soporific effect on Samuel. By the end of the meal the young boy was practically falling asleep in his seat, and Hermione and Severus shared a weighted look between them.

 **oOo**

Severus was reading to Samuel, as Hermione was in her words "Getting ready". He didn't know exactly what that entailed, but he knew he was damn well looking forward to whatever she was preparing. Sam was leaned on his chest as he spoke. They were both fairly certain that he couldn't really hear the stories they read aloud, unless he was watching their lips, however he seemed to like the deep timber of Severus's voice and would instead rest his head on Severus's chest and feel the vibrations as he spoke. So what if he didn't understand what Severus was saying? It brought him comfort, and that was what bedtime stories were meant to do, so Severus continued on regardless.

When Hermione peeked around the corner, and told him to put Sam to bed, he smirked wickedly at the light blush on her face, and did what she said. Sam was already nodding off from Severus's story, and the rich meal they'd had earlier, and was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow.

Inhaling deeply in anticipation, Severus made his way to the other side of the divider, and Hermione who was waiting for him.

 **oOo**

She was sat on the bed waiting for him. She still wore her shirt, but had taken off her trousers and socks so her legs were bare and she only wore her knickers. He could feel himself responding, his cock hard and heavy in his pants.  
Gods but she was beautiful.  
He stalked towards her, and she stood when he was but a single step away from her. Watching her, he could see her steel herself with a deep breath before moving to help him out of his shirt. He stripped it off willingly, but his keen gaze caught a slight hesitance in her movement, which he'd never seen before, and when she reached for his trousers he grabbed her hands to stop her. His actions had her amber gaze raising to meet his own ebony one, but it was the question in hers that had him speaking.

"You are nervous"

She let out a breath, her hands relaxing on the waistband of his trousers, but not letting go.

"Yes..."

"We should stop" He said softly, for he had no desire to push her into anything she was not truly comfortable with.

"No...No I don't want to stop...but could you just..."

When she trailed off he arched an eyebrow and looked at her nervous expression.

"...Just?"

Another endearing flush, as she nibbled her bottom lip nervously.

"...Take the lead? Please."

 _That_ was definitely something he could do.

With a growl he pulled her towards his body, not stopping until she was flush against him from head to toe. He swallowed her surprised gasp with a kiss, and then felt his cock twitch when she moaned into his mouth.

His hands sought the soft skin of her back, and when they reached the hem of her shirt, they slipped underneath to feel the soft lush curves of her arse, covered only by her thin knickers.

Unable to help himself, he grabbed a handful of each cheek causing her to squeak in surprise when he lifted her into the air. She caught on quickly though, and wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing her knicker covered centre in contact with the hard bulge in his pants.

She mewled into his kisses and he squeezed his hands like a cat kneading her.

"Bed" She panted and he could only nod his agreement, carrying her towards their destination.

When she was under him on the bed, he groaned in pleasure and ground himself into her centre. She had stroked him to completion many times, and had just as frequently taken him into her mouth allowing him to spend himself in her throat, however she'd always been more shy of her own body, and though she'd allowed him to bring her off on a few occasions, this was the first time he'd had her half naked and beneath him.

They were kissing furiously, her hand fisted in his hair and his grabbed her thigh, bringing one leg up to wrap around his waist. Once she was in positon he began to rock against her and she broke away from their kiss with a moan at the sensation of his hard cock grinding against her wet knickers.

With his body pinning her to the bed, he reached up and removed his shirt, tossing it to one side before he reached for the hem of hers. He quickly looked to her eyes for permission, and she nodded just barely, bottom lip still wedged between her teeth. Between them they got her shirt off and tossed it to the side.

It was impossible for him to hold back a moan at the sight of her, she was so glorious laid out beneath him in nothing but a tiny pair of knickers. She was gorgeous, delicious _and all his._

They resumed their frantic kissing, both of the exulting at the feel of skin upon skin as her soft breasts pressed against his firm chest. She had one hand in the dark hair on his chest, alternating between tugging him closer and scratching his pecs and it was driving him insane with the need to bury himself in her.

"Hermione" He groaned into her neck when her other hand slipped below his waist and took a firm and familiar hold of him.

His hands grasped at her knickers and began to drag them down her legs, she squeaked at first but then helped him get them off, insisting on stripping him of his own lower garments at the same time.

When she settled back on the bed he let out a desperate moan at the sight of her. She'd let him tease her clit from under her knickers, but had never bared herself to him before, and he was drunk on her.

Dropping forward he kissed the scar on her chest, tracing kisses down it and using it as a path to her soft breasts until he had her nipple in his mouth. She mewled and arched her back, hands fisted in his hair to encourage his ministrations.

His other hand slipped down, encouraging her to part he legs which she did, and he began to tease her in a familiar rhythm.

"Oh!" She gasped and that soft, surprised vocalisation did more for him than a thousand dirty words could. The sheer surprised pleasure and delight, was enough to set his already throbbing cock to granite.

His fingers spend up over her clit, causing her to pant beneath him and he pressed his lips to hers in a vicious and dominant kiss which she melted into.

"Gods Hermione, I love you...I want you" He panted into her kiss and she could only nod in responce.

"Yes?" He asked her, never slowing his motions on her clit.

"Yes..." She gasped back, and then her hand was reaching under the pillow and passing him a small foil square.

 _Right. Condom._

He pulled back for a second and regarded the foil square in his hand, not entirely sure what to do with it. He'd never worn one, or even seen one in person as he spent his entire adult life in the wizarding world, where most adult witches were on the potion.

"Could you...?"

"Umm I think so"

They both laughed nervously at their combined awkwardness. They fumbled it the first time, and managed to rip the damn thing, and after a sudden moment of terror when he thought they'd have to stop, she pulled out the packet with a smile which thankfully contained a number more.

Between them they managed to get the second one in place, and shared a kiss as he lowered her back to the bed beneath him. He was thankful that the condom dulled the sensation a little, as he needed all the help he could get. She was so glorious beneath him, and it had been so long since he'd truly been with a woman, he was worried he might show himself up.

They continued to kiss, as he situated himself between her legs. Where before they had been full of fire and passion, now it was something else. Something more.  
Their kisses seemed to be soul deep, as he gently rocked himself against her, the lubrication of her cunt and the latex of the condom allowing him to press against her slick cleft and grind against her clit.

She was nervous he could tell, but it had no doubt been just as long for her as it had been for him, plus she was a small girl and he was no slouch in the size department either.

They continued kissing, and he let himself rock against her, each thrust of his hips ended with him gradually getting closer and closer to his goal. When the blunt head of his cock was pressed against her opening, he stopped and waited for her.

"Ok?" He asked softly, and she nodded.

"You're...big...be gentle OK?" She asked a little nervously and he smiled and kissed her deeply.

"Always" He whispered as he began to press into her.

She tensed beneath him and he stroked his hands down her sides gentling her, and he felt her force herself to relax.

"Easy" He whispered, as he gently eased himself into her, rocking his hips slowly to allow her time to adjust "I'd never hurt you" He'd only just got passed the head.

"I know" she murmured "But-" Whatever she was going to say broke off in a wince and he stilled as though petrified when he felt her tense beneath him. Though with shock he realised that wasn't the only thing he felt.

"Hermione?" He gasped, as his arms shook with the effort of keeping himself still.

"I'm sorry, I should've said.." She too was trembling beneath him.

Well that explained why she was so nervous.

"Do you want me to stop?" It would kill him to do it, but he would if she asked.

"No. No...Just...go slow ok?"

Leaning down he kissed her, deep and full of meaning. "I love you" he whispered against her lips, and felt her smile.

"I love you Severus" She whispered back, and returned his kiss.

His hand slipped down between them to position himself against her with a better angle, and he gently wrapped her leg around his waist.

He went slower this time, and putting all his weight on one arm, he brought the other down between them to stroke at her clit.

Her breathing sped up, and he found himself groaning into their kisses, nervous yes, but she was clearly very aroused and was dripping wet.

When he finally breached her with his cock, and was seated fully within her warmth, he paused to allow her to adjust to the feeling of being filled with his cock.

"Alright?" He asked carefully after a while, ensuring to keep up with one hand on her clit.

"Yes" She gasped and it was a breathy exhalation. "It feels different, good I think, but different"

He began to move gently and she gasped underneath him, hand coming to grasp his chest hair.

"Is that more...or stop?" He questioned with an arched brow.

"Don't stop" She whimpered.

"Good?" He asked as he continued the rocking motions with his hips, not stopping his attentions to her clit.

"I don't know, it feels...just... _more_...deeper...I don't know, but don't stop"

He chuckled then at the look on her face, eyes dilated and breath coming in gasps.

He angled his hips, making sure the blunt head of his cock would rub against her G spot, and her breath hitched beneath him, as her eyes rolled back.

His hips sped up whenever he heard a pleasured gasp, sigh or moan from her, and soon he was fucking her with a steady rythmn.

"Gods, severus...severus I feel..."

"It's alright love, I've got you, let it go"

"I don't know if I can...it's too much but I don't want it to stop"

With a growl he grabbed her ankle and pulled her further under him, abandoning her clit and hooking both her legs with his arms.

Her eyes widened and she grabbed the headboard behind her. This new angle had him hitting her G spot with every thrust.

She was gasping for breath and whimpering, arching underneath him.

He knew what was wrong, she was unused to penetration, she'd never explored with it or orgasmed from it before, so her body was conditioned to her clit and didn't know how to let it go.

"Relax love, let me have it"

"I can't" She whined desperately, and he saw the hint of frustrated tears in her eyes "I feel like I-"

"You won't wet yourself, I promise" He whispered and smirked at the blush on her face. "Trust me, relax, stop chasing it, let it take you"

He saw the moment she relented as her back arched and her eyes rolled into her head.

"OH Severus...I think I'm going to...Oh"

Growling he redoubled his efforts, thrusting deeply so he hit her cervix and her G spot.

"Yes, let me have it love, come for me"

"SEVERUS!"

Her back bowed so much he couldn't help but take a firm mouthful of her luscious tit, but when her body spasmed around him, he let go with a startled cry as he felt himself following her into release, dragged there by the sensations of her body rippling around his cock.

They collapsed spent into the bed, and kissed languidly, drunk on the headiness of the whole experience.

After he disposed on the condom with a grimace of distaste which made her giggle at his expression, they for once collapsed into bed in just their underthings, both still hot and slick with sweat from their coupling.

When they were half asleep, and she was laid on his chest, he spoke the words that had been floating in his head all night.

"Samuel...he calls you mum?" The words fell from his lips and he wished he'd had the strength to hold them back, afraid of breaking the tranquil peace they were laid in.

She regarded him with a sad smile, but kissed his pectoral gently to let him know it was alright.

"I'm the only mother he's ever known"


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry been so caught up with work, this is just a little taster to let you know I've not forgotten about my CURE readers ! x

* * *

 _"Samuel...he calls you mum?" The words fell from his lips and he wished he'd had the strength to hold them back, afraid of breaking the tranquil peace they were laid in._

 _She regarded him with a sad smile, but kissed his pectoral gently to let him know it was alright._

 _"I'm the only mother he's ever known"_

* * *

The night after they made love for the first time, she opened up to him about Samuel. She'd spoke very little of her time alone with Samuel before they had crossed paths, or of what had happened before she was alone.

The boy _was_ Weasley's it turned out, only the Brown girl was his mother, who he vaguely remembered from her list.

They'd been on the run together, there was Her, Potter, and the brown girl along with 3 Weasleys; Ronald, Ginerva and Percy as well as Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas.

Percy had been the first one to die, the cowardly boy had fled in the night, along with most of their supplies, barely a week after the outbreak. He only got half a mile before the immune got him, and his screams had woken them in the night, thankfully it had been a large horde of immune and when they were finished with him there wasn't enough left of him to turn.

Ginerva and Potter spent all their time together, likewise had Ronald and Lavender 'distracting' themselves, only they were less careful about it and roughly a year after the outbreak, Samuel was soon to be the result.

Lavender Brown had haemorrhaged and died in childbirth, though not before her accidental magic outbursts during a difficult labour had drawn screamers to their location.

Ever the Hero, Potter was bitten then, while attempting at keeping them all back. They managed to barricade themselves inside long enough for Brown to give birth, but they needed to escape. As they began to break through, Potter held them back while the others attempted their escape from a back door. The boy had refused to go with them, knowing he was infected and he had just been turning as they made their way out of the building, a sobbing Ginerva had refused to leave his side, the last thing they saw was the windows going through as Potter dived on the girl in a deadly embrace and the immune forced their way into the building. They barred the door behind them and never looked back.

Things had only gotten worse from there. Samuel had been a difficult child, he'd colicked and cried and made it impossible for them to go unnoticed. They could stay nowhere for longer than a day, for his loud and plaintive cries would draw the immune. Nought but a fortnight after his birth, Seamus and Dean took half of the supplies and left in the middle of the night, the word 'Sorry' written on the wall, leaving behind Ronald, Hermione and Samuel.

A week after that, Hermione was woken by Samuel's continual crying, and wondering why Ronald was not attempting to quiet the boy, as it was his shift to care for him while she slept. She'd gone to check on him, only to find the boy hanging by his neck from the rafters.

She'd been alone then, with Samuel, and had been more or less ever since. Once or twice she'd travelled for short distances with muggles, but they were quick to leave her behind. Samuel was too much of a hindrance, a danger. Once, whilst hiding in a barn, a paranoid muggle had tried to silence the crying boy, permanently. She'd put an arrow through his chest.

That was the last time she tried to join a group. She could rely on nobody but herself. So she carried on alone, just her and Samuel.

Until Severus came along.

And he swore to himself, he would fight to protect them until his last breath.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Lovely loyal readers, please remember the warnings and tags that come with this story. CHARACTER DEATH / HORROR.**

 **There's darkness on the horizon.**

* * *

 _She could rely on nobody but herself. So she had carried on alone, just her and Samuel._

 _Until Severus came along._

 _And he swore to himself, he would fight to protect them until his last breath._

* * *

Summer gave way into autumn, and soon became winter. And it was _harsh._

Their preparations could only take them so far, and though they had stockpiled a huge amount of food and water, it was still difficult.

Hermione had saved every fur from every kill, and stitched together they provided warm, if not a little smelly, blankets that took the chill off.

The problem came when a harsh snowfall left them under a substantial amount of snow. The polar storm left them in the dark and cold for days straight, as thick clouds of snow blocked the sun, and chilled the air. They were unable to leave the rail house due to the distinct lack of being able to see more than a foot in front of your face. However the worse was yet to come.

After days of heavy snowfall, and low temperatures meaning the snow was settling and sticking to the ground and going nowhere soon, unable to take the weight of numerous layers of snow, part of the rail house's roof collapsed. Thankfully for all, it was not over their bedroom, but the gaping hole in the ceiling opened the house to the elements and they had to run through their firewood at twice the rate they had planned for, just to keep their teeth from chattering. Severus attempted to fix up the roof but it was no good, the wooden beams were rotten and crumbling and had simply collapsed under the weight of the snow, and no amount of botching would get it back together. Magical repair was out of the question too, charms of that size would be impossible for either of them to do without a wand, and would draw screamers to their location like a beacon.

Being open to the elements also meant they were vulnerable, from both muggles and immune, the smoke from their fire would usually not be an issue in the fortified house, but in low visibility and opened to the elements as it was, they had distinctly lost the advantage and it was an unwelcome beacon advertising their location in the no longer entirely defend-able building.

Despite their best efforts, Samuel caught a chill and a bad cold. They spent days in bed, with Samuel in the middle, trying to keep him as warm as they possibly could, and their supply of balms that Severus made were quickly run through. Hermoine wept as Samuel cried through a bad head-cold, he was wobbly and had lost his equilibrium and they both feared he'd lost what little hearing he'd had left. He slept bodily atop of Severus's chest, taking warmth and comfort. At the worst point, when the boy's rattling breaths were shaking his small chest, Hermione had to use the last of the inhaler she carried for him.

As the snow began to clear, and the worst of the winter began to recede with it, the small family found themselves mercifully still intact.

Both Hermione and Severus had dropped a lot of weight, and as they had feared they proved that what little was left of Samuel's hearing had indeed gone with the infection that had wracked his head and sinuses, though thankfully devoid of the pressure and infection, his equilibrium had returned and he was at least steady on his feet once more.

They had stopped making love when the worst of the cold came, such intimacies were a waste of energy and not suitable for when sharing a bed with a child, but as the first day came when the air was not biting, Samuel was able to sleep in his own bed once more, under the weight of the furs whilst his carers became reacquainted with one another.

They made love with a desperation, born of sheer relief at having survived the harsh winter. She accepted him on top of her, over her, inside of her as he gave her everything that he had, and emptied himself into her. They moved together in that long practised rhythm of lovers, that had gone on aeons before them and would go on aeons after.

Every day they could, they made love, until they were forced to accept that along with their dwindling supply of condoms, they also had a dwindling supply of food and would soon have to venture out of the rail house, whatever the weather.

They fought, argued and wept long and hard about it, as the rail house had well and truly become their home. But the fact of the matter remained, the rail house was no longer safe. Physically or structurally. Opened to the elements when the roof came through, the wind and the rain had wracked the building, and water and damp seeped into the wood foundations and the wooden beams were beginning to go mouldy and rot. The floor creaked and groaned when you walked on it, and Severus actually put his foot through the hallway floor when he went to the bathroom.

Albeit reluctantly, it was agreed that as soon as there was a day mild enough for the small family to travel, they were to pack up their supplies and leave the rail house for good. They would take shelter for the rest of the winter in one of the abandoned houses in the nearby village where they oft went for supplies. It was not ideal, nor was it long term, but as Severus reminded her, the brick buildings were at least intact, and that alone put them above the crumbling rail house in terms of safety.

When the heavy storms finally gave way to a light drizzle of rain, they packed their bags and prepared to move, each swallowing the uneasiness they felt at leaving their once secure home, despite the various events of the past year, the rail house had almost been a safe little bubble that kept them isolated from the desolation of the world outside.

They had agreed that Severus's plan to find a way on to Eigg was the best one they had, and after spending some time resting and re-supplying in the local village, that was what they were going to do.

With one last look behind them at the crumbling ruin that had been their home for so long, the three of them said goodbye to the rail house for the last time, and made their way through the murky grey daylight towards the village, as the fine mist of rain hung around them like a foreboding shroud of things to come.


	18. Chapter 18

_With one last look behind them at the crumbling ruin that had been their home for so long, the three of them said goodbye to the rail house for the last time, and made their way through the murky grey daylight towards the village, as the fine mist of rain hung around them like a foreboding shroud of things to come._

* * *

They bedded down in the village, and stayed there for a couple of weeks. It was a trade off, as though the warmth of the brick building was much appreciated, the nervousness from feeling so unprotected was not a welcome bedfellow.

The house was defend-able to a degree, but nothing like the rail house had been. When the snow finally cleared, the first thing that they had to do, much to both their chagrin was to figure out where in the world they actually _were._ They had been living in the rail house for what must have been a year at the least, but neither of them actually had any idea where they were in the country, other than roughly in the north somewhere, so they would have to discover their exact location so that they could figure out which way they needed to move in.

A supply raid on what had been the post office, provided them with their current address, a small village in Yorkshire, and a road map. Most roads were overgrown and abandoned now, but having the map was a definite help to avoid uncross-able rivers and large cities, which could have added days onto their journey if they had stumbled upon one and had to turn themselves around.

For one last time they took Samuel on the small park that he so loved. Now totally deaf, the boy didn't seem phased by his hearing loss at all as he smiled and giggled when Severus pushed him on the swings or lifted him to the top of the slide, as Hermione watched on fondly.

They waved goodbye to the park, and began to move. Hermione had found a pull along shopping trolley at the post office, it was one of those horrible tartan things that your grandmother might take shopping with her, but it held a lot, was waterproof and was easily pulled along so it was requisitioned by Hermione, even as Severus sneered at the thing in distaste. Much to Samuel's delight, it also took his weight on top and he would spend many a happy hour sitting on top and being pulled along by one of the adults. When he wasn't atop the trolley, he was usually sat upon Severus's shoulders.

 **oOo**

They had over 300 miles to cover, and on foot in winter was not the best time to do it, but they had no choice if they wanted to reach Eigg. They seriously debated fortifying the house in the village, as they had done the rail house instead of moving on. But the idea was soon discarded. It was no long term solution, and they did not want to spend the rest of their lives on edge.

When the weather broke once more, and snow and ice turned to miserable rain they were moving again. Hermione and Samuel it turned out were both excellent climbers, and when they had to settle down for the night in the forest of Bowland, they climbed the trees and strapped themselves to a branch for safety. Severus much to his chagrin and Samuel's amusement, had to be half dragged up the tree. He was many things, but there was one thing his 6ft 2 gangly self was not and that was a good climber. As soon as he was safely strapped to a thick branch though, he punished Samuel for his laughter with a tickle attack that had the boy squealing and giggling as Hermione could only watch on in amusement.

It took them weeks to traverse the forest of Bowland, and they got turned around more than once, and despite the inherent danger it produced, they were grateful when they broke north of the forest and were able to spend the night in an abandoned building instead. Despite being rat infested and draughty, Severus was grateful to spend the night on solid ground, and share a bed once more with Hermione.

They were down to their last condom, and she tore into the sun-faded and illegible packet, and covered his cock with the rubber, and he groaned in pleasure at that simple action. They made love desperately, the box springs squeaking rhythmically as he eagerly fucked her into the mattress. It had been too long since they had been joined this way, that they could both agree on. She arched her back, grasping the headboard behind her and her buried his face in her neck. Moaning rapturously she arched further under him, taught like a bowstring as he sank his teeth in her shoulder as he finished and she responded by digging her nails into his back, as he felt her clench around him .

They locked eyes as they both came down from their peak gradually, sweating and panting as the sweet lassitude was filling their body and making their limbs heavy. A deep kiss was exchanged, and no words were needed. The forest of Bowland had been harsh, but they knew the worse was to come. In order to avoid big cities they were going to have to travel through the lake district, an area of massive lakes and many mountainous paths. This moment they had would need to be relished, as like the forest of Bowland, safe places to sleep where going to be few and far between. One thing the Lake District was, was open and shelter was going to be hard to find. The only other option, of avoiding the lake district and the Penines, had them going past large cities like Middles-borough, Durham and Newcastle where the amount of immune was sure to be in the thousands. It was not a safe option.

Spent, and tired Severus went to pull away from Hermione and dispose of the condom, only to freeze. Hermione instantly noticed the action and sat up as she spoke. "Severus?" Hermione questioned and his wide eyes met hers. She must have seen the panic there, because she questioned him urgently once more."Severus what's wrong?" He swallowed carefully before meeting her gaze and answering her. "The condom broke".


	19. Chapter 19

_Spent, and tired Severus went to pull away from Hermione and dispose of the condom, only to freeze. Hermione instantly noticed the action and sat up as she spoke. "Severus?" Hermione questioned and his wide eyes met hers. She must have seen the panic there, because she questioned him urgently once more."Severus what's wrong?" He swallowed carefully before meeting her gaze and answering her. "The condom broke"._

* * *

"Broke?! What do you mean you broke it?" The panic was clear in her voice.

"I didn't! I mean...i-it just broke" He stuttered, still looking aghast at the item in his hand.

Her shrill voice cut through him "Broke Severus? Broke how?"

"It split" He met her eyes, and she could see he was also panicking.

She bit her lip "Split during or split after?"

"I don't know Woman!" He snapped

"Then check!" She growled back.

"How am I supposed to check?" He snarled.

"Well is there... _you know_...anything in it?"

His anger deflated then to resignation "...no, no not really"

"Oh...oh no" She deflated too as they both stared at the forsaken piece of latex.

She was the first one to snap out of the shock, and she could already see from the mildly hurt expression on his face, the thoughts that were probably circling around his head.

"It's not you" She whispered as she cupped his face with her hands. "It is though wasn't it?" He whispered. "I meant, it's not because it's you Severus. If circumstances weren't what they were, I think we'd maybe have done away with these things already, it's just the..."

"Circumstances" He finished for her. "Right"

He disposed of the ruined latex, and settled back into the bed beside her, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.

"Is there...anything I can take? Plants or..." She trailed off as he was shaking his head.

"Nothing that I can accurately dose without a lab and equipment, too little would do nothing and too much could kill you, and I'm not about to push you down the stairs either or go looking for coathangers" She smacked his chest for his cheek at the last part.

"What do we do Severus?"

"Well...if you _aren't_ , then in the future we shall have to be more careful, avoid certain acts at certain times perhaps, and I shall have to... _restrain_ myself, when I am near completion, and divert my attentions elsewhere." She snorted then spoke wryly. "Severus, only you could have put 'I'm going to have to pull out and cum on you' as politely as that" He chuckled a little and they were silent for a while.

"And if I am?" She asked in a small voice.

"If you are, then you are, and we shall be happy about it and take it as the blessing it is meant to be"

He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to him.

"It would be nice for Sam to have another child to play with" She conceded.

He hmm-d as he pressed another kiss on her head.

"It also means we need to keep up the pace, and try to reach Eigg as soon as possible."

oOo

They moved out the next day, and upped the pace. They got up earlier and stayed up later, adding a few more hours and a few more miles to their day. The lake district was vast and difficult to traverse, but in the end it took them two weeks to do it. They were surprised and relieved when they found of all things, a 'Glamping" site. The yurt tents, though offering little defence, provided much needed warmth and shelter for a couple of days while they caught their breath and conserved their energy through a terrible storm. There was a wood burning fire inside them, and they felt true warmth for the first time in so long that they could've wept for it, and stayed purely for that reason. But the yurts as comfortable as they were, at the end of the day were large tents, holding no defences and only one door in and out. A shuffling immune, attempting to claw through one made that painfully obvious, and so with reluctance they mourned the loss of the warmth and carried on their journey. They were more or less on schedule when they broke free of the lakes, though wished they had been able to do it a bit quicker.

Thankfully, Carlisle which they had been dreading passing through, was not too bad. They passed very few immune and the ones they did pass were well rotted, and slow, having not fed in a while. They killed a couple, but most were easily avoided.

They also managed to procure more food than they had expected. Without the presence of farmers, and with few natural predators able to take down an adult, the amount of sheep on the moors had boomed. Hermione actually managed to take down a sheep or two on their way through some of the moors north of Carlisle. They relished the meat, and saved the sheepskins, to line their sleeping bags.

Around 5 weeks after the 'incident' , as they came to call it, it became quite apparent that she ** _was._**

The plus side was at least that they could resume their usual nightly activities, and Severus for one welcomed the feeling of being with her without the latex barrier between them. She'd been a virgin, and Severus knew he was clean as far as diseases were concerned. She was already pregnant, so what was the worse that could happen?

And it was that bombshell, that warranted the next step on their journey. It was risky, true, but when they saw the sign they couldn't help it. They so desperately wanted to do something, that was something akin to 'normal' that for the sake of their sanity, they were willing to risk it.

She'd looked to him, and he'd smirked back to her. "What do you think?"

Her grin was wide as she replied. "Well I am running off with a man twice my age, and I'm going to have his baby"

They smirked and held hands, as they turned to follow the beaten road to the west, slapping the sign as they went past.

 **"5 Miles to Gretna Green"**


	20. Chapter 20

_She'd looked to him, and he'd smirked back to her. "What do you think?"_

 _Her grin was wide as she replied. "Well I am running off with a man twice my age, and I'm going to have his baby"_

 _They smirked and held hands, as they turned to follow the beaten road to the west, slapping the sign as they went past._

 _ **"5 Miles to Gretna Green"**_

* * *

It had been foolish of them of course, to enter a town even a small one. Especially one they were unfamiliar with. But they needed it. They needed it to stay sane in this fucked up world they were living in. _They needed it._ Which is how they came to be in an abandoned church, offering promises to each other. There was no Reverend of course, no service, no guests (apart from an enthusiastic Samuel), no flowers and no white dress. They had them on site of course, but Hermione had scoffed at the idea. She'd never dreamed of one growing up, so she didn't care to have one now.

But still, they had their runaway wedding. They stood in the church and offered vows to each other. They signed their names in the wedding book, and thanks to the on site blacksmith and jewellers, in addition to a number of new knives, they also each had a ring to give to each other.

And for one day at least, things were somewhat normal as they walked down the aisle together. Or as normal as life can be, when the dead hunted the living.

 **oOo**

A pharmacy run garnered them more supplies. Prenatal vitamins, multivitamins...more condoms. Severus had arched an eye at her when she'd stuffed the number of boxes she'd found into the carry all, but she'd simply snarked back at him that she wouldn't be pregnant forever, and even if they were the last man and woman on earth, she had no plans regarding repopulating it just between the two of them. He'd chuckled at her then so she'd thrown a box at his head.

The temptation was great to take shelter in the town for the night, but they pressed on instead. It had been quiet there, _too_ quiet. Not a sign of a single immune anywhere, so rather than push their luck they decided to move on. And sure enough as they camped out in the woods a couple of miles North, their suspicions were proved when during the night they heard of all things, _gunfire._

Instantly both Severus and Hermione had been alert. They covered the campfire, even going as far as to risk a small amount of magic to vanish the traces of it. Despite the noise being about a mile away, they still moved another half mile from their initial camp, deeper into the forest and then climbing into the trees.

"What the fuck are they playing at Severus? Guns?" She hissed through her teeth. "They'll bring down every immune within miles" He was silent for a moment, contemplative before he answered.

"Perhaps that is their intention? It would not be the first time muggles used the immune as a weapon. Perhaps someone has a stronghold and another group is attempting to overcome it?" It was no secret that oftentimes the living were more dangerous than the dead.

"I don't like it Severus" She whispered to him. "Nor do I" he answered, and they pulled closer to each other in the trees, Samuel pressed between them.

Once more their suspicions were proved warranted, when they awoke to acrid smell of smoke. Hermione carefully climbed higher into the trees, for a better view.

After a few moments she returned down to them. "There's a large fire, somewhere near Gretna. Something big is burning, a building, warehouse maybe. We need to move, the wind hits it wrong and this whole forest could go up."

He agreed with her, and they cautiously made their way out of the trees and pressed forward at a faster pace than usual. It was not ideal to tire themselves at such a strenuous pace, but neither was the thought of being caught in the centre of a forest fire.

 **oOo**

A few more weeks past and they were well into Scotland. They'd managed to tentatively skirt around the edges of Dumfries and make their way out into the southern lakes. There had been a few incidents with immune, most they'd been able to escape but twice they'd had to kill some of the damned things. Hermione was showing now, her bump was small but quite obviously a baby belly.

On the the motorway they'd approached two muggles. Women. Travelling together. They were on the opposite side of road to them, coming towards them. They'd eyed each other cautiously as they approached. It was a raised motorway, and a risky decision to take, for there was only two ways to go, forwards and backwards. The drop either side meaning death. But taking the motorway was the direct route, it cut days off their journey and avoided walking through two big city centres.

As the women passed, they seemed to keep as close to the opposite side of the road as they could. Which suited Severus and Hermione just fine. When they were level with them, but on the opposite side of the road, after a moments indecision, they made their way closer to the barrier that separated the two sides of the road. After exchanging a quick look, Hermione and Severus did the same.

They called out a cautious greeting, in a thick Northern accent.

"Y'alright?"

"Alright" Severus called back cautiouslly.

"Y'alright Lass?" They'd asked Hermione pointedly, after eyeing her baby bump, and then sending a cautious glare at Severus. He wasn't imaging it when he saw their hands grasp the handles of the weapons they carried. He wasn't offended by their assumptions.

"Alright." She answered, making a point of grasping Severus's arm so that her hand was in view. When they noticed the ring on her finger, and then Samuel cautiously peering around her legs , they seemed to visibly relax.

"Anything to trade?" They asked cautiously, and it was Hermione that answered. "What have you got?"

They managed to make a decent trade between them, they were grateful for some excess furs Hermione had tanned along with some meat they'd trapped.

 _Hermione had scoffed when Severus wanted to go into the animal shelter building outside Gretna, but he'd remained steadfast. Sure enough he'd got one of the long sticks with a noose on that they used to catch stray dogs, and a trap used for feral cats. They proved excellent for catching animals. "I am hopeless with the crossbow, and soon you shall be unable to hunt." He'd explained his reasoning. Having lost the battle of wills, Hermione had made sure he was properly rewarded for his victory that night, by dropping to her knees and taking him into her mouth. He was stood, with his back resting on the trunk of a tree when she fell upon her knees in front of him, untucking his cock from his trousers and quickly jerking it until it was half hard in her hands. "To the victor the spoils" She'd conceded, and proceeded to pick up his cock and put it in her mouth. He'd hissed out his pleasure as his half hard cock thickened and lengthened in her mouth, as she bobbed her head down his length enthusiastically and ran her tongue up the vein on the underside. His hands fisted in her hair and he rocked his hips gently, encouraging her movements and let slip a deep groan when one of her hands reached up to cup his balls. Whispering a constant litany of praise, he thrust into her warm and waiting mouth, feeling the pleasure like a slow burn rising inside of him, from his toes, to his balls, to the tip of his cock and up to his head, making him see stars. She was utterly focused on his pleasure, pulling out all the stops to make it as enjoyable for him as possible, as her fingers pressed into his perineum as her hand cradled his balls. It didn't take long before he was fisting her hair tightly and arching his back as his cock erupted into her warm mouth._

So with the aid of the noose (which when hidden just right, made a fantastic snare) and the trap, one thing they were rarely short of was meat, even if it was squirrel and rabbit. They often caught foxes and badgers, but chose to let them go. It was not worth the risk of disease that they carried.

In exchange for the furs and meat, Hermione was grateful for the tinned fruits she received, for she was ever mindful of her pregnancy, and the lack of nutritional balance an almost all meat diet provided. And Severus was extremely appreciative of the expensive professional fishing rod set the girls had acquired, but been unable to figure out how to use.

After an unspoken understanding passed between them, and both Hermione and Severus's sense of fair play and honest nature had shown through, it was Severus that had spoken up.

"This trade is unfair, the rod is more valuable. You should take something else."

But the women had shaken it off, gesturing to Hermione's belly and Samuel. "You need it more than we do. Besides, they were doing us no good. Couldn't figure out how to use the fucking things."

Touched by the gesture, they shared another look and Severus passed them something off his back. "Take this then." The knives they'd picked up from Gretna blacksmiths were wicked sharp, and Severus had spent a few days carving out a decent branch, and affixing a blade to the end, leaving him with a wicked spear that was excellent at killing immune whilst keeping them at arms length.

"That's too much" One of the women said, eyeing the impressive weapon, but Severus shrugged it off gesturing to the rods. "These will help me feed my family, besides I can make more"

Sharing a similar look to what Hermione and Severus had, they fished out a couple more tins of fruit along with some tins of condensed milk powder which Hermione almost gasped at seeing. They placed all of them on the barrier between them, before taking the spear Severus offered.

"And this will help me protect mine" The taller one offered a nod to the pair of them, which they returned.

"Good trade friends. Avoid Glasgow at all costs. There were 6 of us before we got there."

"Good trade" Severus and Hermione returned, shaking their hands over the barrier. "Avoid Gretna Green, it's too quiet there, and we heard gunshots in the night. The next day there was a fire burning"

They waved each other off with well wishes, and continued on their journey, without looking back.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry for the delay friends, I've been very ill, hopefully this will make up for it. Also check out my new story, which is also WIP, Sins of the Father.**

* * *

 _"Good trade friends. Avoid Glasgow at all costs. There were 6 of us before we got there."_

 _"Good trade" Severus and Hermione returned, shaking their hands over the barrier. "Avoid Gretna Green, it's too quiet there, and we heard gunshots in the night. The next day there was a fire burning"_

 _They waved each other off with well wishes, and continued on their journey, without looking back._

* * *

The weather was throwing them for a loop, and they were really beginning to wish it would settle on one thing or another. Or as Severus put it, _"Make up it's fucking mind already"._

In typical British fashion, it was fluctuating from harsh snow flurries, to bright sunny days. Either of which would have been preferable to the miserable slush they had to deal with in-between. Those days when the sun melted the snow into piles of grey filthy mush, that always seemed to soak through their clothes and chill them more than the snow itself ever did. Those days were grey, harsh and tiring. The dismal cold and wet sapped their strength and hindered their progress. It soured their moods and made them wish they could find somewhere safe to stay. At times, it made it harder for them to make any progress, as the motivation to carry on was sorely lacking.

Their progress as it was, was slow and hard already. Though with the addition of the fishing rods, and the animal trapping gear, food was easier to come by than it ever had been before, they had both failed to factor in just how physically draining pregnancy was on a woman. Hermione quickly grew tired, and they found that the distance they were able to travel in a day was dwindling more and more as time went by and her pregnancy got more advance. Not only that but she had to give up hunting much sooner than they expected. Her balance and equilibrium was off, and Severus was afraid that she'd have an accident and he wouldn't be there to help.

It had taken them a while to get Samuel to understand the reason for her expanding mid-line, but eventually with the help of some books they scavenged from a small library in one run down village, they finally got the point across. After that Samuel spent almost every night sleeping with his head atop and arms around her belly.

Severus, once he'd untangled them from the the mess they'd come in, had begun fishing at every opportunity. Hermione was grateful for the oils and vitamins the fish provided, and Severus enjoyed teaching Samuel how to fish. Though for the most part, Severus was certain he enjoyed digging in the mud for bait, more than he did the actual fishing side of it, he still shared and indulgent smile with Hermione when the boy proudly brought her the first fish that he'd caught for himself. Hermione showed him how to cook it, and they ate it that night. The boy didn't stop smiling until the next day.

 **oOo**

It took them a long time to get well into Scotland. With Glasgow on one side, and Edinburgh on the other , they had to take their time and cut through a lot of countryside to avoid both of the big cities. That meant they had to cross right through the centre of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. It was harsh countryside. Little shelter and little safety. Though the original plan was to cut over the hillside, Hermione's pregnancy made that impossible so they had to stick to the roads, meaning they were always exposed. Though in the middle of the vast countryside, it never felt good to be so exposed. It made them feel vulnerable, and the stress and anxiety grated on their nerves and put them on edge.

When they finally broke out of the Trossachs National Park, it was once more into miles of farmland. The feeling of being out in the open, didn't dissipate, but at least they had a crack at some sheep once more. The stupid things were fairly easy to catch, and the wool always came in handy.

It was another 3 days of walking through farmland, before they reached the first proper village they'd seen in weeks.

Finally, they spent a night in real beds under a real roof.

When Samuel was asleep, she reached for him.

Her pregnancy hormones had made her, for want of a better term, _horny as hell._ Of course Severus was more than happy to comply, however their frequently unsafe lodgings had meant that there was little more relief he could offer her than a quick hand down her pants, as he brought her to a fast completion.

There was going to be none of that tonight though.

Her baby bump would make it difficult for him to get ontop of her, so instead she lay on her side and he spooned behind her. shedding clothes below the waist, he pulled her leg so it was atop his, and he palmed his cock as he primed himself to enter her. She was whimpering and gasping as his other hand teased her slick little clit, and her own hand was teasing her own nipples into hard points.

With the pregnancy, her breasts already seemed a little larger, her nipples darker and more pronounced, and as he slipped his cock into her warm heat, he couldn't help but take a handful of her luscious tit, teasing the nipple between his fingers.

She arched back into him, her hand reaching back to pull his head to her, as they kissed artlessly. It was all teeth, tongues and heavy breathing. But fuck if it wasn't what they both so desperately needed.

His hands reached down to cup her hips as he increased his speed, and she threw her head back and moaned as the angle had him brushing against that sensitive spot inside her that made her see stars.

It didn't take long before she was gasping and clenching around him, and then he followed her into bliss, momentarily losing himself in the pleasure as everything but the two of them ceased to exist.

When he was done, he pulled out from her gently and rolled her onto her back, kissing her indulgently, before moving down and kissing the swell of her belly. It was there he let himself rest, head pillowed on the swell of his child within her, as she gently ran her fingers through his hair, and he was lulled to sleep with the reassuring sound of Samuel's soft snores from the other side of the room.

 **oOo**

They had enough food that they could spend a few days in the house, before they needed to move on. It was risky yes, but they needed to recharge, especially Hermione who was at their best estimate, around 5 months pregnant. They needed to move though, they could not stay there forever. At best they had a month before Hermione would be into her third trimester of pregnancy, and Severus really wanted to reach Eigg by then, as the kind of travel they needed to do would be practically impossible, and highly dangerous for a woman in the late stages of pregnancy.

So it was, after a few much needed days of recovery, even Samuel was getting stir crazy, despite the long stint they'd gone without proper shelter. So they packed up their things, foraged what they could in the house and moved on. As they walked through the small village, they foraged in each house they came to and managed to regain some supplies, which Hermione was pleased about. Their provisions had dwindled somewhat during their long trek passed loch lomond.

There was a couple of immune, though they proved little challenge for Severus. They were old when they were turned, pensioners that lived in the small village no doubt, and it was clear they'd gone a long time without feeding as their bodies were decaying and slow. Each was dispatched easily.

On the edge of the village, much to Samuel's delight they came upon a park, the first they had seen in months, and a shared indulgent smile between Severus and Hermione meant they both knew what their next stop was going to be.

Samuel rocked around the park happily, for though it was only small there was a number of things that hadn't been in the other parks he'd been in before, like the small merry go round, and the zip wire which he insisted on riding ten times in a row, until he was laughing so much Hermione was concerned he might wet himself.

She couldn't begrudge him the fun though, and a look at Severus saw that he was thinking along the same lines.

Their fun was cut short, when Severus eyed the sky as a groups of birds shot into the air cawing loudly out. They quickly scanned the distance though didn't see anything, untowards.

"Fox? Or cat maybe?" Severus asked and she simply shrugged in answer, though they both remained alert.

They heard it then. Blood running cold and skin turning ashen, they heard it. The howling in the distance. _A Screamer._ Sharing a look of fear, Severus quickly grabbed Samuel from atop the slide, despite the boy's protestations, as Hermione grabbed the pull along bag and they began to jog away from the gut wrenching sound.

There was no way they could outrun the screamer, not in Hermione's condition. So the only way they had a chance was to distract it long enough for them to put some distance between them. They'd talked about the eventuality and they knew what they were going to do. Severus, who was more capable with wandless magic, seeing as neither of them carried wands anymore, cast a lumos maxima, leaving a large ball of magically generated light floating above the playground they'd just left. It would not distract them for long, as the lumos would not last long, but hopefully it would be enough time for them to get some distance between them.

Samuel, who could not hear the howling and did not understand why his long awaited time on the park was cut short so suddenly, struggled and protested when he was bundled into Severus's arms, as they took off from the playground at a brisk jog.

They managed to get to the bottom of the street, before Severus dropped Samuel with a hiss when the boy landed a kick in his ribs hard enough to wind him. Hermione grabbed his arm roughly, ready to pull him along with her...And then, it happened. The boy, confused and frustrated, stamped his foot in anger, as he quickly pulled back from her grasp and looked at them with such single minded determination that Severus was worried what exactly it might entail. Though what happened was the last thing that he could've expected. The last thing they had _ever_ expected. Now until this point, Severus could've been almost certain that the boy with his deafness and overall sickly pallor, was a squib. Hermione had been of the same opinion.

He was proved wrong. _Dreadfully wrong._

Samuel proved just how naive Severus's assumption had been...with his first ever accidental magic.

Destination, Determination, Deliberation.

He _apparated._


	22. Chapter 22

_Now until this point, Severus could've been almost certain that the boy with his deafness and overall sickly pallor, was a squib. Hermione had been of the same opinion._

 _He was proved wrong. Dreadfully wrong._

 _Samuel proved just how naive Severus's assumption had been...with his first ever accidental magic._

 _Destination, Determination, Deliberation._

 _He apparated._

* * *

"SAMUEL!"

He screamed. And the boy looked up at him from where he was climbing, his position on the frame was precarious and Severus knew he was about to fall. Running as fast as he could he reached the boy just as he fell and snatched him out of the air. He landed heavily on his back, the weight of the small boy upon his chest knocking the wind out of him.

Hermione worriedly ran to the side of him, "Severus is he all right?"

Samuel was crying and cradling his hand, which Severus quickly examined for damage.

"Nothing broken, just some scrapes" He said softly, and placed a kiss on the boys palm where the old wood had scraped the skin as the boy held on.

"Don't ever do that again!" Hermione enunciated to him, making sure he met her eyes and listened to every word. The chastised boy just carried on crying from his fright, and buried his face into Severus's neck.

"Come on I think he's learned his lesson, and we have to go" Severus said getting up from the ground and still cradling the whimpering boy to his side.

"What on earth possessed him to do that?" She asked him as they began to walk and he simply shrugged, running a calming hand down the boys back.

"He's seen us climb out the window frame often enough, he was just copying what we did" Severus answered with a grimace.

"The rail house had guttering, this doesn't" She gestured to the brick building in the small village they were foraging in. "He's just a boy Hermione, they do stupid things sometimes" and she simply sighed and nodded. "He frightened me Severus, thank god you were there" and he smiled back to her "I always will be".

 ** _Woosh._**

As they were bathing in the river, from the bank came an excited shout, as he saw Sam waving.

"Hi Hi Hi !" The boy was smiling and waving...

At the immune that was making his steady way toward him.

"SAM!" Severus bellowed and had launched himself towards the river bank.

Instead of running as Severus had hoped, the boy just turned slightly to look at him in confusion as he came thundering out of the water.

He heard Hermione screaming for the boy behind him, but it was all a blur as the immune reached for Sam , who was still facing Severus and due to his hearing loss, totally unaware.

As a boy, Severus had never played football like most British boys, but instead had played rugby. That paid off now when he threw himself bodily into the immune, tackling it to the ground.

He was shirtless, with no weapon within grasp as the immune fought underneath him, trying to sink his teeth in. From his position on the sandy riverbank there wasn't even a big stick within reach to use as a weapon.

He heard Sam screaming, and froze when he heard the shwick noise of the crossbow releasing, though when it didn't impact the immune in his grasp (for Hermione never missed) he realised there must be another one of them.

With a grunt he grabbed a small stick and pushed it into the immune's mouth, the thing bit down instinctively on it.

Then he pushed the immune down and slammed his fist into its face, closing his mouth and eyes against the blood, lest he too be infected.

He punched over and over again until he ceased to feel the motions beneath him, only then did he wipe his face and open his eyes.

Skull caved in, the thing was dead. Truly dead.

 _ **Woosh**_

Hermione was sat by the fire, working with some rabbit furs. It was still summer, but she kept the furs of every animal she killed, and crudely tanned them. They wouldn't be winning any fashion contests with the discoloured furs, but winter was always on their minds, and the fur blankets she were making would be a godsend.

Sam was playing in the dirt near him with a small trowel, digging and making castles from the small pieces of kindling and Severus continued chopping wood. Suddenly Sam screamed and Severus nearly dropped the axe on his foot when he turned around.

There was an immune almost upon Sam, it was rotten and legless and so had been dragging itself over the ground.

He lurched forward grabbing Sam and violently throwing him backwards to safety as the teeth snapped towards him.

A vicious kick caved in the things skull and ceased it's movement.

 ** _Woosh_**

They were walking on a small bridge over the river, taking the more rural roads and doing their best to avoid detection. "Samuel get down from there!" Hermione had shouted to the boy who had climbed on the wall and was walking perilously close to the edge. He heard enough of her voice to look up, but ignored her come hither gestures and did a silly dance instead which made Severus chuckle, and Samuel smile.

Hermione jabbed her elbow into his ribs and he let out an oof as he bent over winded. "Don't encourage him!" she hissed and he barely had time to chuckle out an answer before there was a startled yelp from the boy, and they both looked up to see...nothing. Samuel was nowhere to been seen.

Hermione didn't even notice the splash of him hitting the water, because within seconds Severus had dropped the bag he was carrying and dived off the edge of the bridge, launching himself into the churning waters below.

She'd never seen a man that large move that quickly, and by the time she reached the edge of the bridge, Severus already had hold of Samuel and was carrying him on his chest, swimming backstroke to the shore.

She met them down there with a couple of furs out the bags and quickly took the shivering boy in her arms, wrapping him up and throwing another to Severus. Tears running down her face she snarled at him, "THAT is why you don't encourage him. He's a child, he doesn't know better unless we teach him." Her body was shaking with the force of her sobs, as she held the boy tightly to her chest. Severus, heedless of his own wet clothes pulled them both into his embrace.

"I'm sorry, you're right." He said dropping a kiss on both of their heads. "It's alright, it's over now, let's not dwell on what could have happened, Sam's safe and we're alright"

 ** _Woosh_**

They'd come upon the man near Auchreoch, on their way out of the Trossacks park. It had been clear that'd he'd been alone for a long time, and he was jittery and ill kept. Despite the circumstances, both Hermione and Severus had managed to maintain somewhat of a semblance of personal hygiene, though it seemed that had not been a concern for the man before them.

His clothes were torn and soiled with blood and other things that they didn't want to think of, and Severus was certain that the sharpened bone he had in his belt, was a human femur. Hopefully from an immune, though the thing that concerned him was the revolver sat beside it.

"Alright friend , alright, alright, better for seeing you than not, isn't it aye? Top of the morning, afternoon, evening to ya aye, ya needing a place to stay, a while to stay, to stay aye?"

Severus placed a hand on Hermione to make sure she stayed behind him, and pushed Samuel between them, in an attempt to keep him out of sight, but the mans glassy eyes spotted him, before snapping back to Severus with a smile that showed broken and rotten teeth.

The shepherds building looked tempting, especially out in open as they had been, but not at the risk of waking up with that bone dagger in his throat.

"Just passing through" Severus spoke levelly and the man screeched then laughed.

"Voice like a movie star this one aye, big screen, silver screen, tv screen, all the same aye?"

Severus said nothing and his hand was tight on Hermione.

"Anything for sale aye? I be liking the look of them furs I do, aye I do, it's mighty cold it is, cold alone, cold out here aye?"

The man was eyeing the jet black sheeps fur that Severus wore around his shoulders like a cloak, and the lighter ones both Hermione and Samuel wore. Severus insisted when Hermione made it that he'd look a fool, but she'd instead told him with heated look that he looked like a viking. He'd plundered her that night wearing it, and had worn it ever since.

"What are you offering" He said cautiously. If a trade was what it took to move passed without incident, then that's what he'd do. Severus was fast, but the revolver was faster. And since the painful reminder of his last encounter with guns, the bullet in his shoulder, still ached in cold weather, he'd rather pass without incident and trade the mad man some furs.

Grinning the man offered up various wares, speaking nonsense all the time, as ever curious Samuel peaked out cautiously from behind Hermione's legs.

There was a pile of bones fell to the side, as the man rummaged for things to offer in exchange.

"You been eating the dead friend?" Severus asked calmly, one hand holding the handle of the knife in his belt.

"Dead. Living. Just not the Living Dead or the dead living, no good if the dead are living but alright if you make the living dead aye?"

With caution Severus gave the man a spare fur, and a sheeps throw. In exchange for some useful tools, that had been raided from an army base.

"I've got something special I have, aye, special for something special indeed yes sir what say you, can't say no, aye?"

The look on Hermione's face was begging him to run, as she cupped her belly with one hand and held Samuel back with the other. Severus wished desperately for the man to turn his back on him, if only for a moment, though as of yet the man had made sure to face him at all times.

"Alright. Show me"

A wide smile was answer, and Severus stepped forward cautiously, as the man took a throw off of a metal box, then lifted the lid with a flourish.

Severus inhaled sharply. Medical supplies. And a lot of them. Pristine, in packaging. Among the packets and bottles were antibiotics and strong painkillers, even morphine. It had obviously been taken from a hospital, before the worst of the looting and rioting took place. Among the supplies were surgical ones, including sterile scissors and clamps still in packaging, saline swabs, iodine. Hermione's sharp intake of breath echoed his and he knew she was on the same track as him.

In any circumstances the box was a treasure trove, but what shook both Severus and Hermione was the fact that these things would be inordinately helpful for when she eventually gave birth.

"Alright friend. What's your price?" He asked and the mans face lit up as he laughed and pulled on his ears in a way that Severus was strangely reminded of house elves.

"Price price, what's a price, a sweet price for a sweet deal aye?" Then his eyes lit on Hermione and Samuel. "Aye, I know a price to buy, aye I do. I want to buy them"

Severus's gaze hardened and his hand hovered over the knife in his belt. " _They_ are not for sale" he spat and the man only laughed and hopped about foot to foot, attempting to look around Severus.

"Not for sale, not for sale. Everything's for sale at the right price aye and I have the price I do, I have it aye right here" He gestured to the box below him and shot another look at Hermione and his eyes focussed with intent on Samuel.

"Mighty cold it is aye, mighty cold, Do they come as a pair aye? or would you sell the little one separate?"

A red haze covered his vision then and what happened next barely registered in his mind.

The next thing he knew, they were making their way further north and he had a shockingly painful new scar on his arm, which was only aggravated by the additional weight of the supplies in his bag and the boy sat upon his shoulders, and Hermione's tight grip upon his hand.

 _ **Woosh**_

"You should come with us" The women had offered, as they spoke over the motorway bridge and for a moment they had considered it.

"We're done with the main land, we're going to take our chances with Eigg" Severus had answered, and they had nodded their response.

"Well we wish you luck, sounds a bit risky to us though, there's sure to be immune their too and god knows what else, at least on the mainland you can run in any direction for a few miles before you hit sea"

"We'll take our chances" Hermione had confirmed. They didn't want to admit to the muggles, that the main reason they were going to Eigg was because there was only so many dead that could be on the very small rural island, and once they were dispatched, they'd be able to freely use magic once more.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" They'd asked once more, and once more they'd declined.

Then They had parted ways and headed in opposite directions.

 _ **Woosh**_

He was on the climbing frame. The one that Severus had pulled him from. And as he swug about with a smile, Severus set off running, screaming the boys name.

 _You should come with us_

Hermione was behind him and she was screaming too, though she would usually run laps around his lanky form, with her pregnancy she was much slower than usual and lagged behind.

 _He frightened me Severus, thank god you were there_

His legs burned, and his heart was pumping so fast in his chest he thought he might crack a rib as he ran down the street towards the playground.

The howling was getting nearer and the wind whipped at his face making his eyes run, though when he saw the lanky form of a screamer speeding from the opposite direction he swung his arms, ducked his head and pushed harder, running faster than he thought he'd ever be able to do. The movement of his arms made the bullet in his shoulder ache, and the cut on his arm reopen. He felt hot blood seeping down his arms, and his lungs burned with fire and his whole body protested his rapid movement, while at the same time the Adrenalin pumping through his body pulsed a staccato beat that said go go GO!

 _You should come with us_

He was closing in on them now, getting closer. Closer to the playground and closer to the howling. Still the deaf boy paid no attention to why they were running so quickly to get to him.

Suddenly it felt as if his body hit tar.

He felt like everything was moving in slow motion as the screamer jumped over the playground fence.

As Samuel's eyes's finally lifted and met Severus's with a smile, he felt a part of him break, because he knew.

Severus _knew._ Deep in his bones

For all his effort it wasn't going to be enough.

So preparing for the fight ahead, he did the only thing he could, and he gritted his teeth as his fist made contact with flesh.


	23. Chapter 23

_Suddenly it felt as if his body hit tar. He felt like everything was moving in slow motion as the screamer jumped over the playground fence._

 _As Samuel's eyes's finally lifted and met Severus's with a smile, he felt a part of him break, because he knew._

 _Severus knew. Deep in his bones...For all his effort it wasn't going to be enough._

 _So preparing for the fight ahead, he did the only thing he could, and he gritted his teeth as his fist made contact with flesh._

* * *

When she awoke it was in the comfort and warmth of a real bed, for a moment everything was fuzzy in her head, until her thoughts caught up with her and she shot awake. Blinking the sleep from her eyes she saw the familiar aged floral wallpaper of the house they'd been staying in and breathed a sigh of relief.

 _Thank God._

Severus walked through the door and she smiled at him. "Morning Severus, Gods I feel so rough this morning, like I've been hit with a train, where's Sam?"

At first Severus said nothing, though the second she met his eyes, the look on his face instantly shot through her like an arrow. Piercing and crushing any hopes she'd had when she awoke in the safe house, of the nightmare she'd just had, being just that...a nightmare.

Sweat beaded on her skin, as instantly she felt sick and clammy and her vision swam.

"Where's Sam?" She repeated quietly.

He couldn't look at her. He looked away and she could see the tears on his face, though instantly knew that she couldn't accept them. No, she refused to accept them.

"Severus, where is Sam" She repeated and when he met her eyes, she could no longer deny the stricken look on his face nor the tears that shone in his eyes.

 _No._

 _No no no._

"Severus. Stop messing with me!"

"Hermione-"

"Severus where is my boy, where is Sam?"

"Hermione" He began but she just shook her head.

"No."

"Hermione I-"

"No. Severus No. Don't"

"Hermione I couldn't"

"No... no, no Sam!"

She jumped out of bed and screamed his name, running towards the bedroom door.

"SAM! Samuel! SAM!"

Severus jerked into action and grasped her around the upper arms.

"Hermione, please be quiet please"

"SAM!" She screeched heedless of his warning, tears tracing hot tracks down her face she fought his hold trying desperately to leave the room.

"SAMUEL! SAM! SAM!"

She fought and screamed until Severus had to spin her around in his grasp, her back to his front, and slap a hand over her mouth to stop her screams.

"He's gone Hermione, he's gone"

She felt the break in his voice. The tremble in his limbs, and the heat of his own tears as they fell and scorched a path down the back of her neck, and the fight left her as her body sagged in his arms. He took his hand off her mouth.

"No Severus No" She beseeched him in a whisper. "Tell me it's not true, please tell me Severus please."

"I'm sorry" He whispered brokenly. "Hermione I'm so sorry"

"Severus no. Severus no, he's my boy, he's my baby Severus please no" She whimpered and felt the man sob behind her.

"I couldn't. I'm sorry Hermione, I'm so sorry" He broke and sobbed and that was it. Like a puppet with it's strings cut she collapsed to the floor, landing hard on her knees and falling forward until she was on all fours. Harsh sobs wracked her body, and as she pressed her forehead to the ground she felt as though she was too heavy to ever stand up again.

"He was mine, Severus I didn't birth him but he was _mine_ , I held him, I raised him, his whole life I was his and he was mine"

"I know" He whispered and held her, his own tears wetting her clothes. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I failed you. But I tried, I tried but I couldn't reach him, I'm so sorry this is all my fault"

She cried until she was sick, body shaking with her sobs and Severus pulled her tighter into his arms. "Please, try to calm down"

"How can you ask that of me" She snapped at him, and he buried his face in his neck as his hand cupped her stomach. "It's not for me, I want you to calm down."

"Please, try and take some deep breaths, please"

Realisation hit her then, and her hand came to cup the swell of her belly with his as she followed his rythmic breathing. Tears still coursed down her face, and his, though she was no longer hyperventilating and retching.

A strange numbness overcame her eventually, as they settled together there on the floor, despite the mess from her ilness.

"How did I get here" She asked calmly. No hint of emotion in her voice.

"I carried you" He answered, just as tonelessly. His voice was deep and fathomless, like it had been when she was in school, and she realised he must be occluding himself to try and keep his emotions at bay.

"Why did I need carrying" She asked. Though there was no accusation in her tone, no emotion whatsoever.

"You were unconscious" He answered, just as emotionless.

"Why?"

"Because I hit you" He answered, without hesitation.

She didn't question his answer, and just waited for him to carry on.

"I saw... it... Clear the fence. It was...too close. I knew..." He stopped, but he didn't need to carry on. Because she knew too.

 _He knew he wouldn't make it in time._

"You knocked me out" She filled in.

"I knew you wouldn't stop" He whispered. She could've reacted then. Anger, Pain, hurt. Instead she just nodded. Numb.

"No, I wouldn't have" She agreed, but there was no malice in her response. Because she knew she wouldn't. She wouldn't have stopped no matter what. Even when the screamer reached him, she wouldn't have left him, she would have carried on running to him regardless, and got herself and her unborn child killed in the process. Ever the Gryffindor.

But Severus. In that split second he'd known. Known there was nothing he could do to save the boy, but knew there was a chance he could do something to save Hermione and their child, and he'd taken it. Though she saw the guilt he carried now because of it.

As much as she wanted to hate him for it, she couldn't, because just then there was a movement, a little fluttering in her stomach she understood. He was protecting his family, the best he could. And she and their unborn child, were only alive right now because of him.

"Did you." She began and then cut off with a sniff. Inhaling deeply she steeled herself before asking again. "Did you see"

"Yes" He whispered. And she nodded to herself before asking again.

"Did he...did it..."

"He didn't feel it." Severus answered, in that toneless voice that hinted at the level of occlumency he was applying. "He slipped and hit his head on the climbing frame, knocked himself out before-"

She stopped him with a nod and a raised hand, eyes screwed tightly shut.

 _Before it got to him._

"Severus, I can't stay here." She whispered, as tears continued to course down her face.

 _I can't see him_

He sat upon the floor and she leaned back into his chest. His arms came around her and he sighed deeply, and he knew that it was a sigh of relief, that despite everything she was not rejecting him.

"I know" He whispered.

"I know"


	24. Chapter 24

**AUTHORS NOTE: For those of you who read my other fics, you may have seen this note already. But I want to apologise for the long delay in updating A cure for magic and many of my other stories. I've been in a very dark place over the past few weeks, and it's made it difficult for me to find the energy or the will to write. I hold all of my reviewers and readers in such high esteem that I felt it would be better to wait until I felt more human and perhaps give you a shorter chapter, than give you a longer chapter that was sub par when you've waited so long for it.**

 **At times I've been that low over the past few weeks that I was considering things that I haven't in a long time, and it was only the fact that I had promised you all I would leave nothing unfinished, that got me out of bed and stopped me from doing something drastic.**

 **So here's the next instalment of a cure for magic for you all, and I'm sorry again for the delay.**

 **But I also want to thank you all for the constant support you give me, especially those who responded to this authors note already on Father Mine Sins of the Father and NTSG. It really does mean more than you know to have you all there for me when I need it.**

* * *

 _"Severus, I can't stay here." She whispered, as tears continued to course down her face._

 _I can't see him_

 _He sat upon the floor and she leaned back into his chest. His arms came around her and he sighed deeply, and he knew that it was a sigh of relief, that despite everything she was not rejecting him._

 _"I know" He whispered._

 _"I know"_ They packed up their things and moved out the next day and took the long way that skirted around the edge of the village. It took three times as long, was more exposed and didn't provide them any scavenging opportunities. But it had one distinct advantage.

it avoided the playground.

Severus had sat in the darkness and internally debated all night about going back there. The tortuous thoughts swirled violently around his head, making him nauseous and causing him to vomit more than once. He felt that he owed it to him, that he needed to bury him...if there was anything left of him to bury. And that thought got him thinking what he would do if there wasn't. If there was barely enough of him left to bury or if he went looking for Sam and Sam found him. Did he have it in him to do what needed to be done?

After the second time he vomited in the past 30 minutes, Hermione, sensing where his thoughts must have been as he stared gloomily ahead into the darkness, placed a calming hand on his shoulder that made him jump in shock at the unexpected contact to his bare flesh.

"Don't" She said simply.

He opened his mouth to argue but this time it was her turn to ground him. "He's gone Severus" _He's gone Hermione._

Her hand pulled his to her rounded stomach and his mouth snapped shut when he felt the movement there, rippling under his palm. Her unsaid words clear as day even in the stillness and blackness of the night.

 _He is gone, but we're not. He doesn't need you anymore, but we do. We need you now Severus._

Resting his head on the swell of her stomach, he allowed his own tears to fall as she threaded her hands through his hair, they wept together for most of the night until they fell into an exhausted slumber.

They gathered their things in the morning and prepared to leave. Severus turned and looked at the house through narrowed eyes. The last place they had been together, the building loomed above him as though mocking him with its very presence. _Did you know?_ He thought to himself as he mentally addressed the building before him. _Did you know what would happen, as we all slept happily with you the night before? Were you witness to our suffering, were you complacent in it?_

With a roar of anger Severus cast fiendfyre over the house as they left. And smirked as its mocking presence caved in on itself. It served it's purpose in a way. The magical fire would draw any of the immune and screamers towards it, as they hastily made their way away from it. And it helped Severus's sanity. The anger that was rolling in him quieted a little, and he felt that it was necessary to turn the building to ashes. It was far better for his sanity this way. To burn the damn thing down to naught but a pile of ashes, than to stand here arguing with it.

 **oOo**

They clung to each other more fiercly now, night after night. All too aware that the world they were living in now was as harsh and unforgiving as ever. Without a child sleeping in the room, they had no reason to remain clothed and so each night they pressed fully naked to each other and took each other with a passion that was bordering on desperation. Sometimes he would take her so furiously fast it knocked the headboard into the wall with each of his thrusts. Other times he would be so gentle and tender that they would both weep from the sheer emotion of it.

Sometimes she was too tired to make love, and they would simply hold each other close and slip their hands beneath the covers to bring each other mutual pleasure. It was impossible now for him to lay on top of her, so rounded was her belly, so he would spoon behind her and slipped his hands between her legs, teasing her with deft fingers on her swollen clit until she fell apart into release.

She would reach behind her and grasp his firm shaft in her hand, stroking him firmly, fast and hard until he was begging whispered pleas into her ear, as he buried his face into her neck. She would tighten her grip and tug on him harder until his hands on her hips gripped her tightly, and the pleasured moan that she felt through his chest was only shadowed by the spill of warm liquid on her lower back and ass.

 **oOo**

As they moved, within a few days Severus had decided on a new plan and a new destination.

Eigg had been their plan as long as they could remember, but it no longer offered the comfort they had originally wrought from it. Eigg had been where _they_ were going to go, where they were going to be a family. It was the place they had told Sam about, where Severus had sat him on his lap and pointed to pictures in a mpa and the boy had smiled and excitedly drawn pictures of islands and seas and boats. He'd write EiGg on there, but always got his G's didn't need to convince Hermione, for Neither of them could bare to go there without him. So instead they settled on a new destination.

So they set plans to land in Port Mor. It was further away by boat than Eigg, which is what had put Severus off originally, though now he was more content with the certainty that the screamers really could not swim, once they were in the open water, it would be safe to use magic to aid the movement of the boat, at least until they arrived there.

The island was only 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. Before the outbreak it had a population of 38 people.

Port Mor was where they'd arrive at the Island, and there was little else there but a school, a pub, a farm and a bunkhouse. It seemed fitting though, even the name itself was more in tune with their current feelings.

It was smaller than Eigg, which seemed fitting as their world had become so much smaller without Sam.

And instead of settling in Sam's long awaited EiGg... they were going to the Isle of Muck.


	25. Chapter 25

_The island was only 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. Before the outbreak it had a population of 38 people._

 _Port Mor was where they'd arrive at the Island, and there was little else there but a school, a pub, a farm and a bunkhouse. It seemed fitting though, even the name itself was more in tune with their current feelings._

 _It was smaller than Eigg, which seemed fitting as their world had become so much smaller without Sam._

 _And instead of settling in Sam's long awaited EiGg... they were going to the Isle of Muck._

* * *

As it was just the two of them now. (Three technically if they counted her growing bump). The travelling was not any faster due to her condition, but it was a little easier. They didn't constantly have to have one eye peeled on the whereabouts of the young boy, nor did they have another mouth to feed. They needed to catch less food, or if they caught more than they required then Hermione was able to have more. For no matter how much she insisted otherwise, Severus would never take more than his ration, insisting she ate until she could no longer do so and only then would he consider eating any more.

When they sat an ate, sometimes Hermione thought about how much this life had changed them. She'd been a vegetarian at Hogwarts, with her eyes set on becoming vegan when she finally graduated. She would've gone vegan beforehand, though it was hard enough explaining to the Hogwarts House Elves why she didn't want any meat on her plate or in her meals, they were unable to fathom the concept of her not wanting dairy either. She snorted in amusement as she bit into the cooked rabbit in her hands. Severus raised an eyebrow at her but she simply shook her head and he went back to his own food. There was no need to say anything, for it was a common thing to sit and reminisce of times gone past. As she looked at Severus she realised just how much he had changed too, for the Severus of her youth would have surly become viciously annoyed and badgered her for an answer as to her behaviour, whereas her Severus simply accepted her answer for what it was, and got on with it.

 **oOo**

Their luck abruptly changed upon reaching another small town in Scotland. Hermione heard the noise first, and he a few moments after. At first they thought it was a screamer, until they heard it again more clearly and began to cautiously move toward it.

They reached a small farm, a smallholding really. A tiny cottage with a few chickens mulling around, a fenced off field and a small barn. It was the field that was drawing all the noise, and once he lifted Hermione onto the roof of an old landrover for safety, out of the reach of any approaching immune, Severus hopped the fence with his bat held over his shoulder.

There was a big pony, or a horse. He wasn't entirely sure what the difference was, but it was running in panicked circles unable to get out of the fenced in field and unable to get away from the immune that was following it, dragging an injured leg, teeth gnashing as it attempted to sink them into the equine's waiting flesh. In seconds Severus was able to disable it, and finish it entirely moments after. The immune didn't hunt animals, not unless they were starving. This one was fairly recently turned, and despite the gruesome leg wound it wasn't rotten in anyway, falling to pieces like many of the ones from the original outbreak were.  
Judging by the dead immune in the corner of the field, this muggle had been bitten whist defending himself and turned probably mere days or ago. But trapped in the field as it was, with a chunk taken out of his leg, he'd been unable to escape the field while alive and unable to hunt once dead.

The pony/horse was panting and shivering, sweat coated its body and thick white foam dripped from its mouth and onto its chest. The whites of its eyes were showing, and as Severus went to move towards it and the fence, it reared back on its hind legs with a squeal, kicking out its front legs towards him and making the thing even larger than it was to start with. He hadn't realised just how damn big the thing was.

He fell back with a sweared oath "Fucking hell, Rabid beast, try being grateful I just saved your damn hide!", and wondered just what in the seven hells he was supposed to do now, as the stupid beast was currently between him and Hermione. He didn't fancy his chances hopping over the other side of the fence which was topped with barbed wire. He may not have planned for this baby, but he'd still like the ability to partake in the act of making them, _thank you very much._

A clicking noise, followed by a metallic clang, drew his attention and that of the great beast in front of him. Hermione was stood at the gate, making a strange clicking noise with her tongue and rattling a metal bucket. He was about to scoff at her attempts when the rabid beast, instantly dropped back onto the four legs that Merlin granted it, and ambled on over to her with a soft rumbling noise.

He watched agape as she grabbed a piece of twine from the fence, the same kind that was wrapped around a nearby bale of hay and with gentle words easily persuaded the beast to allow her to put it round his neck. Held loosely in one hand, with the bucket in the other, she easily led the beast out of the field with no more than a piece of twine.

"Severus, open the barn door for me would you?" Too dumbstruck to do anything else he complied to her wishes and jogged ahead of her to open the large wooden doors, after a quick check through the windows that their were no nasty surprises waiting inside.

He held the door open as he watched his tiny pregnant wife, waddle along the path, bucket now abandoned, as she lead the giant beast calmly with a piece of string no thicker than Severus's shoelace.

She got it inside the stall in the barn, and latched the gate behind it and Severus watched as the thing began to voraciously tear into the hay that was strung up, only for Hermione to quickly pull it out of the way, causing the beast to rush at and kick at the stall door in displeasure and snort angrily at her.

Before he could drag her to safety she had reached over the stall door and began digging her fingers roughly into the horses neck. "I know you want it baby, but you've been running yourself ragged for lord knows how long, if you eat it now you'll colic, just rest and calm down for a bit and then you can have it"

Severus watched as the fingers dug roughly into the neck of the beast in a way that couldn't at all be pleasurable, but found his eyebrows arched in surprise as the beast leaned into her touch and began to wiggle its lips in a bizarre manner. Suddenly the thing lunged for her and he shot forward only to find her reassuring him it was fine despite his concerns as the thing began to bite and mouth at her back.

"He's not trying to hurt me Severus, he's grooming me back" She said with a small laugh as the thing exuberantly hooked its large head over her shoulder and attempted to drag her closer.

 _"Grooming?"_ He asked incredulously, but then remembered her fingers digging into the animals neck and realised that must be what she was referring to.

Then another thought popped into his head. "He? How do you know it's a He?" He regretted the question the second he asked it, especially at her amused chortle when she gestured to the back end of the beast with a flourish.

"Fucking Hell, that wasn't there a minute ago, I doubt I'd have missed it, especially when the thing was doing his level best to walk on two legs" He said face flushing red and she laughed. "It's because he's relaxed now, he's letting it _allll_ hang out" she giggled and he snorted.

Though they both ended up chuckling when the beast snorted back to him.

Cautiously he made his way closer to them, still wary of the beasts reaction to him earlier, though there was no need as it simply turned and regarded him with soft brown eyes.

"He's much bigger than the ponies at Hogsmeade" He said offhandedly, as he reached to pet the animals neck under Hermione's guidance.

"I should hope so, He's a horse. A draft horse at that, a shire would be my guess" She told him and he nodded in understanding. "The farmer probably still worked him, looking at the harnessing up there. I bet he pulled a dray or even did farm work"

Severus noted the pieces of leather Hermione referred to, hung up in the barn, some had brasses attached to them and he recognised those at least from the time spent retrieving his father from numerous muggle pubs as a child.

"He's beautiful aren't you mister? Aren't you beautiful?" With seemingly no concern for the welfare of her face, she planted kisses on the horses soft muzzle and was rewarded with the animal lifting his lip and mouthing her face back in an entirely unsanitary way, that Hermione didn't seem to mind in the least.

Walking over to the leather-work he picked up the only piece that he recognised, the bridle with the big black blinkers on it. There was a name plate on the side that had gathered some dust so he began to rub it with a scrap of cloth he found.

"He can't stay here alone Severus, can we keep him?" She asked him with a smile as she finally gave the beast the hay it had been seeking. Severus had no intention of denying her anything that made her smile like that, but when he moved his sleeve from the leather, and noted the words his cleaning had revealed, he knew there was no way they would be leaving the hulking beast behind.

 _Samuel Smith Shires_


	26. Chapter 26

_"He can't stay here alone Severus, can we keep him?" She asked him with a smile as she finally gave the beast the hay it had been seeking. Severus had no intention of denying her anything that made her smile like that, but when he moved his sleeve from the leather, and noted the words his cleaning had revealed, he knew there was no way they would be leaving the hulking beast behind._

 _Samuel Smith Shires_

* * *

The horse's name wasn't actually Samuel, thank goodness, but further investigation found that it was in fact "Theodore".

He didn't know if it was the hormones that caused the reaction, or if she was always like this with animals, but the discovery of the name had prompted a vast amount of kisses on the horses nose, (which must be unsanitary, _surely?_ ) along with a slightly higher pitched voice than he was used to her using, as she cooed to the monumental beast in front of her as though it didn't way half a tonne.

"Of course his name's Theodore, it's because he's just a great big _teddy bear_ , isn't it teddy?" Followed by more nose to nose rubbing.

"I fear I'm being cuckolded by an equine" He'd grumbled good-naturedly, still too pleased with her happiness to be truly upset. "Well he is hung like a horse" She'd teased back, and he snorted in laughter. "His hair's longer than mine too, perhaps that's the draw?" He asked with a smirk. She popped over to him and promptly kissed him on the nose. "Nah, I've just got a thing for men with Roman Noses" and sauntered off towards the farm house. Waddled would be more accurate, though he'd already learnt the painful lesson not to refer to it as waddling out loud and within earshot.

He wanted to be jealous of the lumbering beast, the old him certainly would have been, but when it nickered softly to him as he passed, and lipped his arm affectionately, before snuffling his pockets for anything edible he found he couldn't bring himself to have any ill will towards the great beast. It reminded him of Hagrid in a way, obscenely large and frightening to look at, but wouldn't harm a fly.

* * *

They spent almost a week at the farm, and it was as long as they could afford. The temptation had been great to stay at the homely little farmhouse, with Teddy and the few chickens that ambled about the farm seemingly unphased by how the world had changed. The temptation was great...but the first night they both agreed their stay would be temporary, and it was too much of a risk. The farm was isolated it was true, but it was also set into a little valley. It gave some protection yes, but should a large hoard pass by them, like it had at the rail house, they would be surrounded with no means of escape.

At first Severus assumed that Hermione intended them to ride Teddy, but she'd just laughed and when he looked affronted had kissed his nose and explained. Firstly that it was quite obvious that Teddy was a _driving_ horse, raised to pull farm machinery whether in actual function or just for sport and that there was a high likelihood that he might never have been trained to the saddle. Which was news to Severus, as he'd assumed all horses were trained for both and not that driving and riding were two separate disciplines altogether. Then she'd explained that though riding a horse his size would no doubt be like riding an 'armchair' as she'd put it, the motion was too much of a risk for her pregnancy and he had quickly agreed it was a bad idea if it posed any risk to her at all.

It was then that Severus had despaired what they were going to do with the great beast which Hermione would refuse to leave behind, imagining leading it all the way to the coast on a lead-rope like a great dog, not that he thought the horse would mind if its disposition was anything to go by, but it wasn't exactly an efficient way to move. Hermione then suggested the idea that changed things dramatically.

"Well he's a driving horse, he's bred to pull a cart...why not drive him to the coast?" Severus stroked his finger over his lips thoughtfully as Hermione stroked one side of his chest idly, her head pillowed on the other side.

"Can you drive a horse?" He asked her cautiously, for the idea certainly had merit. She winced a bit. "I drove a pony in a trap when I was a girl at riding school, they're pretty much nothing more than a bench on wheels but the commands should be more or less the same... I'm not strong enough to hold him though, in my condition"

"What do you mean _hold_ him?" He'd asked with curiosity, all kinds of images flashing through his mind, and she chuckled obviously correctly interpreting the query in his tone. "I mean control him, take the reins. He doesn't seem like he'd be riggy or bolshy, but if he gets spooked, bolts and gets his tongue over the bit, I'd be ..." She trailed off as Severus looked at her with a blank expression and she realised she'd have to simplify things for the man, who had not grown up around horses as she had. "He doesn't seem like the type to be headstrong and misbehave, but if something frightens him then he may bolt, horses are flight animals as you saw. If you have a horse's head, you have the horse. Reins are what give you direction but the bit in the mouth is what gives you control, if he gets frightened and manages to get his tongue _over_ the bit instead of under, he'd take back his head and the control, a horse his size? he could quite literally pull me straight out of the seat" He winced then, and once more at her next words. "I'll show you how, and you'll have to do it, you have the upper body strength".

He'd already come to same conclusion as her, _reluctantly_ , but being able to drive a cart to the coast would not only increase the speed of their journey, but also improve it with being able to carry more supplies and be infinitely less taxing on Hermione. Not only that, but the smell of the horse would hopefully mask their own scent quite well and help them avoid the interest of any nearby immune, who would only take interest in the horse if they were starving and even then be unable to keep pace with it at anything above a walk. It may not be a horse bred for speed, but with something akin to hope in his chest he thought to himself that even a screamer would be unlikely to keep pace with the beast if they pushed it to full speed when in dire need.

Despite the fact he had already made his mind up to do what needed to be done, he certainly didn't turn down Hermione's sultry offer to 'convince' him...She didn't know he had already convinced himself, and he was a Slytherin after all. Once they were both gloriously bathed, thanks to the farms own water supply, he enjoyed having her lips wrapped tightly around his cock until he was groaning, fisting his hands into her hair and spending his release into her mouth. She took every drop of him and he pulled her into his embrace when he was finished.

She was large enough now that he had to spoon her from behind, raising her leg over his to open her up to his attentions. His hands danced over her swollen flesh, and oversensitised by her pregnancy hormones she was quickly coming for his talented fingers and soon after reaching a second peak. By the time she had crested a second time, he was fully hard once more, and he enjoyed having her on her hands and knees on the bed, so that he could enter her from behind. The animalistic grunts of pleasure she made, only spurred him further on. He felt like a caveman as he pounded himself into her, a being reduced to just hormones and instincts. Pleased to have this female as his mate, please to have his offspring in her belly, pleased to have his cock buried in her willing body, and mostly pleased that she seemed just as pleased as him. When she buried her sweaty face in the pillow and came with a strangled yell, as he cunt strangled his cock, he let loose a ragged moan and spilled himself inside her, careful not to crush her with his weight as he sagged to the bed beside her, scooping her as best as he could into his arms as they slept.

* * *

6 Days and 6 nights they spent at the farm. Severus killed 3 more immune that wandered through. The days were spent with Hermione coaching Severus on how to drive Teddy. First she showed him what all the 'tack' was and how to use it, including how to put all the harness on and off him. They spent the first two days with Severus walking behind a harnessed up Teddy, learning the different commands and getting a feel for the reins. The next four days were spent driving around the farm and local roads in the small wagon/cart they had found in the barn. It was a simple thing and Hermione guessed that many years ago it may have delivered milk or eggs from the farm to the neighbouring village. But it was big enough for the two of them to sit in the front, and sleep in the back beside their equipment so to them it was as luxurious as any muggle limousine.

Afternoons were spent gathering together all the supplies that they could, and loading them sensibly into the cart, whilst still making sure each had a bag full of essentials they could survive off, should the need arise.

Then the nights were the best of all, spent making love in real bed, until they often fell asleep still intimately connected. It was as though they were in a quiet little bubble that the universe had granted them.

But as morning broke on the 7th day, 3 more immune arrived on the farm and had to be dispatched by Severus. The frequency of their arrival was increasing, as many in one day as they'd receive in the past 6 and they knew it was time to move on.

Stocking up the wagon with as much as they could, including small crates that contained as many of the chickens as they could catch, and horse feed they could find, without pushing poor Teddy too far, they said goodbye to the farmhouse that had been their shelter, their balm to their souls and sanity, and with a click of Severus' tongue, began their journey once more.


	27. Chapter 27

_Stocking up the wagon with as much as they could, including small crates that contained as many of the chickens as they could catch, and horse feed they could find, without pushing poor Teddy too far, they said goodbye to the farmhouse that had been their shelter, their balm to their souls and sanity, and with a click of Severus' tongue, began their journey once more._

* * *

Hermione was getting very large now, and the bigger she got, the more worried Severus got. It was hard for them to estimate how far along she was in the pregnancy, her periods had been sporadic at best anyway no doubt due to the huge amount of stress they were under, but being unable to accurately track time, compared with Hermione's naturally small build meant that tracking the progression of her pregnancy was exceedingly difficult as she became larger and larger.

At their best estimation, Hermione was now around 7 months along, which made Severus's gut clench in worry. From the books they found it seems it wasn't uncommon at all for women to give birth in their 8th month as by then all the 'essentials' had developed and the last month of gestation was usually just growth and weight gain of the baby.

Severus was living in constant fear that she'd go into labour before they reached muck. If she went into labour, no amount of horse dung and chicken shit would mask them from the immune and the screamers. She didn't speak of it, but he knew Hermione was afraid too. After what happened at Samuel's birth, how could she not be? Severus himself was a short - tempered ball of nerves even thinking about the events surrounding his birth and all he had to go on was second hand recollections, not the firsthand and front-row view that Hermione had.

Still, she soldiered on and never spoke of it, but inside Severus Snape was truly afraid.

It was this fear that caused him to push Teddy further each day. They were making more time than they ever had before, but still Severus pushed the good tempered beast harder each day. Ever willing to please, the horse did as he asked until one day Hermione noticed him sweating trembling and foaming around his bit when they finally stopped for the day and had promptly read Severus the riot act. She was so mad she made him sleep on his own near the chickens, while she laid down by the horse. He was once again glaring jealous daggers at the beast, that playfully curled up his top lip at Severus as though mocking him, while Hermione's soft hands gently massaged the beasts neck. She forgave him in the morning of course, but only once she'd emphatically, and with a bruising finger pointing painfully into his chest for emphasis, explained in great detail why it was a bad idea to push Teddy so hard. Though her anger at him was more than enough justification for him to see the error of his ways, along with the very real threat of being completely cut off from any type of intimacy until their child was old enough to have enrolled in Hogwarts. The nicker Teddy gave sounded so much like mocking laughter that Severus glared at the hairy beast, though wisely kept his mouth shut.

 **oOo**

The great beast that Teddy was, surprisingly continued to remain obedient in the cart, despite the seeming rivalry the two males had over the attentions of the lone female in the group, though Severus was certain it was more to do with the fact that Hermione was in the cart with him, and the beast would no sooner hurt her than it would spontaneously turn purple. He once more reconsidered his thoughts that he was being cuckolded, when he watched how she would giggle when the beast would 'kiss' her on the lips for treats or scratches.

In a jealous fit of rage, the types of which he hadn't had since a teenager, that he regretted almost instantly, he even untied the horse from its tether one night in the hopes it would wander off and he'd not have to compete for Hermione's affections once more. Only to find the beast just wandered over to Hermione's side of the cart and went to sleep with his head over the side, nose touching her shoulder. Always half asleep, due to years of the need to be on guard, he even heard her move a few paces away from the cart in the night to go to the toilet, and the horse dutifully plodded behind her. Even allowing her to lean on him so that she could have a wee unaided, seeing as she could no longer get up from a crouch on her own. Until now, even that less-than-stellar job had been Severus's and as he cracked open one eye he watched her waddling back to the cart, one hand leaning on the monstrous beast as he matched her step for step like a giant guide dog. She giggled when his huge head once more appeared over the side of the cart and nudged her belly gently as Hermione stroked his head and cooed to him affectionately.

The baby was quite active now, and they had shared many moments together wondering over the movement of the life they had created, and once Teddy had noticed too, he had seemed equally as enraptured the by the strange movement in her belly, often pressing his nose gently to her stomach and snuffling it, ears pricked forward in rapt attention.

 **oOo**

Things changed dramatically when Severus was gathering fresh water from a nearby stream and he heard Hermione's loud scream coming from the direction of the cart, followed by a familiar and terrifying howl. Abandoning his buckets and with terror gripping his insides, he'd thrown himself into a run until his eyes streamed and his lungs burned.

He arrived to see Hermione being dragged over the side of the cart by her hair and on to the floor, by a screamer. But Teddy...Teddy was magnificent.

With righteous squealing anger, the giant horse had immediately sank his large teeth into the shoulder of the screamer and yanked him backwards and away from Hermione. Quicker and more gracefully than Severus thought possible of the giant and lumbering beast, the horse had spun on his back feet, launching the screamer feet away whilst he put himself between the screamer and Hermione.

Severus flew between them, putting himself between Hermione and Teddy lest a misstep from him crush her.

Rearing up to his substantial height and angrily squealing in a noise he'd never heard from the gentle horse before, he landed a impressive 'punch' with his front hoof that brought the advancing screamer to the ground, after it had ripped a chunk out of teddy's neck with his teeth.

Now grounded, Severus's stomach rolled when the thing met their eyes and began to with determination drag itself along the floor towards them. Though was promptly stopped with a sickening crunch when the horse reared up and stomped with all his weight on the things head. The hooves larger than dinner plates made quick work of the screamer, and with a few well placed stomps the thing was truly dead.

Hermione was sobbing and taking one of her arms around his neck, he was shocked to find a large head there ready to support the other, as hermione held onto Severus with one arm and Teddy with another. With steps that seemed too cautious and gentle for an animal his size, they led Hermione back into the cart and sat her down. She was shaken, scraped and winded but assuring both concerned males that she was ok.

He had a hand pressed against her belly, his unasked question heavy in the air, and he almost started when he felt a velvety soft nose press alongside his hand, on the swell of her belly.

And Hermione started laughing through frightened tears, as she looked at two concerned faces and assured them both that she and the baby were fine.

oOo

That night Severus gave into Hermione's wishes to groom Teddy. She'd had been asking him for a while, she too short to do it properly in her condition, and Severus had always grumpily refused. That night though, without being prompted or told, he'd used a gentle healing spell and taken over the grooming items and silently begun to groom him by himself. He went through every process that Hermione had taught him, from cleaning his feet, getting all the burrs and snarls out of his mane and tail and brushing his coat until it shone. It was with some level of shame, the moment he started he felt the sensation of the horse mouthing his back, in what Hermione had previously explained to him about 'grooming him in return' and it was then he realised the horse had never played favourites, showering Hermione with affection to make him jealous. He simply returned the love he was given...and until now Severus had never given it, and when he did the horse had returned it without hesitation. When he was finished he regarded the beast eye to eye for a moment, before in a rare show of emotion wrapping his arms around its neck and hugging it tightly, face pressed into its warm neck.

"Thank You Teddy"

The horse just nickered softly and mouthed his hair.


	28. Chapter 28

When he was finished he regarded the beast eye to eye for a moment, before in a rare show of emotion wrapping his arms around its neck and hugging it tightly, face pressed into its warm neck.

"Thank You Teddy"

The horse just nickered softly and mouthed his hair.

* * *

In the shadow of Ben Nevis as they reached Fort William, they had an encounter that would change everything.

They had passed a farm house previously, which sat abandoned yet curiously full of supplies whereas most places had been raided already, or those that hadn't had already began to work their way through their own supplies. However they soon found the answer when they entered the bedroom.

Laid out on the bed was the desicated corpses of the building's owners. Dead for many years already, enough that the bugs and gore and stench of decay and rot was long gone, leaving only the dried out remains. It did nothing however to disguise the shotgun in the man's hands or the gore spattered pattern on the headboard and wall behind them.

Fragile and wrinkled with age, Severus cautiously picked up the papers that were clasped in the corpse's hands.

* * *

 _To David,_

 _We're so sorry that we never supported you, or your boyfriend. Though I understand from your aunt Muriel that he's your husband now and we are sorry that we missed your wedding, though that is nobody's fault but our own. It was wrong of me to have said those things to you, to have let you leave on such bad terms, but me and your mother just didn't understand. Fort William is a small town, we were born here and grew up here, like everybody we went to church on sundays and..._

The middle of the page was stained beyond recognition so Severus skipped to the end.

 _... So we wanted to say we are sorry. I am sorry for what I said and sorry for what I did and didn't do. We're sorry for not saying this sooner, but we love you soon, no matter who you are, or who you love, you will always be our son. Please come back to Fort William, London's fallen and it won't be long until the other cities fall too. Birmingham will be no different, please. Please come to Fort William, you and Michael and let me keep you both safe, I have stockpiled enough food to keep us for a long time, and the farm is almost self sufficient. I ordered a wind turbine for power and your mother has been making enough preserves and blankets to see us through an ice age, so we will all be safe here._

 _Please son. W_ _ith Love_

 _Your Father and Mother._

* * *

There was an envelope beside the letter stamped **RETURN TO SENDER** and a another barely opened letter. The letter was pulled from the envelope just enough to read the first line.

 _Dear Mr and Mrs Jameson_

 _As next of kin it is our duty to contact you as executors of estate and we regret to inform you of the deaths of David Jameson and Michael - ..._

There had been no need to read any further it seemed, and the results were laid in front of him.

Another letter, written in shaking penmanship sat beside his leg.

 _To whoever finds this, take what you need and go with our blessing, for we shan't need it any more._

* * *

Hermione was waiting outside, with Teddy. She was armed with a spear and Teddy had been fitted with a quick release knot, in case she had to let him go for his or her protection.

"Is it safe?" she asked him cautiously. When they first found all the supplies in the house, they'd originally thought they had stumbled upon someone's hideout so Severus had gone to investigate, not wanting them to be caught unaware by a disgruntled survivor.

"It's safe. two dead, in the upstairs bedroom, been there a while, died in the first wave before the firebombs"

He didn't tell her how they died and when he buried them in the garden, she didn't ask him why, just left him to it as she made the second bedroom safer for them. They simply untied Teddy and let him wander as he pleased, knowing he would not leave the vicinity and would also call out a warning to any approaching dangers.

When the hole was dug, he wrapped the corpses in the bedsheets and put the in the ground with some wild valerian and lavendar he'd found, for peace.

As the earth covered he placed a hand on the soft ground.

"You may not have been able to save your family, but you may just have saved mine. Go with peace my friends, and I hope you find your sons waiting on the other side"

 **oOo**

There was a much better cart in the barn, a more modern fibreglass thing, though the horses were long gone. All the gates tied open to allow them their freedom, a last act by the farmer and his wife before they left this world.

The Cart was bigger and made of fibreglass, which meant even though it was nearly double the size, it weighed less than half of what the old solid wood one did, meaning they had both more room for supplies and less worry about overloading the cart and pressing Teddy too much.

For the first time they filled the cart to it's absolute limits, though Hermione as always insisted on leaving a handful of items on the table in the kitchen, for any others who might pass by. The old Severus would have laughed at the woman who placed the tin of peas, peaches and cold spaghetti on the table though now from experience he knew that it could be the difference between life and death for someone who stumbled upon the place in dire straits.

What they were even more grateful for though was the small wind turbine, still packaged up and ready for construction, along with a number of water purifying supplies and other "Survival" gear. It was items like that which would make their everyday lives much easier, and Hermione took a number of hand made blankets, pillows and other items from the house to line the cart with.

Severus had arched an eye at the patchwork quilts but she held them close to her chest with conviction and said softly to him. "Someone's grandmother or mother made these...by hand, they were made with love, for loved ones and they shouldn't be left here to rot. There's not enough love left in the world to just throw it away."

His stomach twisted at her words.

 _Your mother has been making enough preserves and blankets to see us through an ice age._

He pulled her close, and placed a gentle hand on her stomach. "Take them all, leave none behind" He whispered into her hair. "And one day we shall tell this little one of how their grandmother made them with love, enough to last us through an ice age" Hermione chuckled at his words, and wiped her tears before kissing his cheek. "I think that's a lovely idea Severus"

They spent two days recharging and filling the cart. Before they left Hermione went to the mound with Severus, and even brought Teddy when she'd discovered lovingly hand written plaques in a feminine script on all the stable doors which were filled with horses no more.

It wasn't until Severus packed the shotgun, that she finally asked him how they'd died and he reluctantly told her. Now the three of them stood vigil for a moment next to the shallow grave, as Hermione tied a photo she had found in the house to a large stone to mark their resting place.

"Thank you Nana Maureen for blankets, I will use them to keep my family warm and loved, I even made one into a blanket for Teddy. Thank you."

She placed a small cutting of a flower, a rose into the ground.

"Thank You William for the Shotgun, and supplies. I shall use them to keep my family safe" Severus said softly and added a small cross of wood he'd made the night before.

They paid their respects to the old couple who they'd never known for a moment more, before they headed out of the farm and out of Fort William.

 **oOo**

They passed through the next two towns and make quick work through the countryside over the next few days. Carrying more supplies than they ever had, they were still making remarkable time as the cart was so much lighter on teddy.

Their blood ran cold as they heard the screaming behind them.

Two screamers were running up behind the cart, gaining quickly.

In a second Severus had gathered up his reins up and was about to get Teddy into a run when they both froze when the screaming began anew

"HELP ME! PLEASE !"

Turning quick as a flash he realised it wasn't two screamers but just one, in hot pursuit of a woman.

Indecision warred on his face for a moment and Hermione saw it .

"Help her Severus!"

He eyed her and her stomach pointedly. "It could be a trap"

Hermione gestured to the vastly open fields all around them. There wasn't so much as a wall to hide behind.

"Fucking Merlin" he groaned as he hefted the spear into his hand and jumped into the back, Hermione taking over Teddy's reins and slowing him down to a fast walk.

The woman and the screamer were both gaining, and still Severus held steady.

The sobbing woman was an arm's length away when he shouted. "DOWN"

She dropped instantly to the ground, skidding to a painful stop no doubt but Severus had thrust his arm forward the second she went down and the spear went through the rotten screamer's skull like a knife through butter.

With one hand he pulled the girl into the cart and with the other pushed the now dead thing off his spear, and it was all done without ever stopping the cart.

"Thank Yo-"

With a strong hand he pinned her by the neck to the side of the cart.

"Strip"

She choked out a frightened and tearful reply "P-please" but the sharp tip of the spear dug under her chin and she looked to Hermione for help, though none was given.

"My _husband_ won't touch you, not like that." Hermione said without even turning to look at her "You're covered in blood and he wants to know that you've not been bitten"

Shaking the woman began to strip off, making an indignant noise as Severus through the items off the cart though he sighed in exacerbation as he explained.

"There's one, that means there's usually more. The smell of the blood will draw them to us and there's enough of it on you without carrying those blood soaked rags"

"You could have just asked" She bit out as she stripped down to her underwear shivering and both Hermione and Severus snorted in amusement, though it was she who spoke.

"And if you would have been bitten, you'd have told us?"

The woman snorted then, and even grinned in wry amusement. "Fair point, Survival instinct's a bitch isn't it?"

Knowing she wasn't about to be murdered or molested she stripped off until she was down to her underwear and did a small twirl to show she was indeed bite-free, though did have a few nasty scrapes where she'd hit the road.

"She's clean." Severus said to Hermione and the witch looked back at him, then did a double take at the woman sat in the cart.

"I know you" She said "You went to Hogwarts...Hannah right?"

The woman looked closely at Hermione before comprehension dawned. "Granger? Hermione Granger?"

Her eyes snapped back to Severus and looked at him closely before comprehension turned to horror as she jumped up and grabbed the offered blanket from a now chuckling Severus, who'd anticipated the reaction.

"Holy Fuck you're Professor Snape. Fucking Hell I just stripped for a Professor, fucking hell I...wait, husband?!"

As one Hermione and Snape brandished their hands, showing the matching rings and for the first time Hannah took in the swollen belly on the woman driving the cart.

She let out a low whistle. "Fucking Hell you've got balls Granger." She said then chuckled in amusement "Now that I think about it, I kinda get it though, you two were both crazy smart. Well I'm happy for you. My god Lion's gonna blow his mind when he sees you!"

"Lion?" Severus asked with a question and Hermione shrugged.

"There's three of us, Lion got bit so we had to take his foot, he didn't turn thank god but the wound's stinking and he's in a bad way. I was trying to find something edible but there's nothing but mushrooms round us and not the fun kind either"

It didn't take them long to get further down the road to where Hannah and the others were staying. They didn't fear an ambush from the smiling Hufflepuff, because they were still in miles of open farmland and the only structure that provided any cover was an old sheep hut, so it was with determination and ill concealed curiosity that they made their way with Hannah to the hut.

She shouted out a greeting and the door opened, but when Severus ducked inside first his indrawn breath made Hermione quickly follow and the sight inside made her scream outloud.

"NEVILLE!"


	29. Chapter 29

_She shouted out a greeting and the door opened, but when Severus ducked inside first his indrawn breath made Hermione quickly follow and the sight inside made her scream out loud._

 _"NEVILLE!"_

* * *

If Neville recognised her, the only sign he gave was a slight widening of his eyes, he did not say anything nor exclaim aloud as she had, but then it was only another moment before she had taken stock of the situation, and the extra inhabitant of the makeshift shelter.

An older, though no less _Luna_ Lovegood, who had Neville's head pillowed in her lap. "Hello Hermione, Professor Snape" she said in the calm way of hers which made Severus snort an amused laugh and Hermione smile softly, before turning back to the task at hand.

"Severus" She said as she turned to her husband and her tone was all business, no more needed to be said and he nodded in understanding as he went to pick up the boy, now man, that had once been the bane of his life in the potions classroom.

"Every immune for miles will be able to smell the blood and rot coming from him and here you are squashing yourselves into this joke of a lean-too...have none of you learnt by now never to take shelter anywhere that has only one exit you incompetent fools? How you have survived thus far is a miracle" he snarled as he lifted the thin frame of the man with ease.

It might have sounded caustic to the inhabitants, other than Luna, who were only used to the Professor Snape persona, but Hermione saw through it for what it was. Worry...and concern.

"Grab anything you want to save, the teddy-bus leaves in 3 minutes with or without you" Hermione stated as she began to grab the assorted possessions around her, as Luna did the same and Severus made his way out with Neville.

"Who died and made you boss?" Hannah asked as she began to gather items together, the tone was in jest, but Hermione answered her deadpan anyway. "Harry Potter".

After that, a slightly more subdued Hannah got on with the rest of the packing.

* * *

Thankful that the new cart provided enough length to lay Neville out flat without having to move any of their belongings, they made quick haste to get all the belongings into it. Teddy had nickered in concern as they brought a moaning Neville onboard, he could no doubt smell the boy's injury too, but he was quickly placated by a smiling Luna stroking him with affection.

Joking aside they were off within a few minutes of their arrival, and it wasn't a minute too soon as Hermione pointed out a group of immune breaking through the distant treeline.

"No screamers, just immune, you'd have never heard them coming" She said blandly and both Hannah and Luna went a little pale at that statement, though said nothing. The hidden meaning was clear though. Severus's words had already held true, for had they stayed where they were, they would most certainly have been dead by morning, for they would've been swamped in the night with nowhere to turn and now way out.

Severus moved Teddy into a trot and set about putting as much distance between them and the immune by nightfall as they could.

* * *

They found another small holding, not as nice a the one they'd gotten the cart from and it looked like it had sustained fire damage at some point, but it was high on the hill so it made it defend-able, escapeable and it was a good vantage point to view the surrounding area.

Any worry that there would be clashes between their new members over authority were quickly quashed. Both Luna and Hannah seemed immensely relieved to have someone to just _tell_ them what to do, and quickly got on with whatever duties they were given.

There was no food in the farm house, though it had it's own water supply and that alone was a blessing as they set to filling all the containers they could find.

After making sure Hermione was alright, and placing a large hand on her stomach to reassure himself of the life within, Severus began to concentrate on Neville, by firstly stripping the makeshift bandages from the wound.

There was a poultice of mushed plants wrapped under the bandage. "Your doing?" He asked to the girls, but they shook their heads. "Lion- Neville is the herbologist, he told us what to bring and we made it"

He nodded shortly, "Then thank Merlin that what he lacked in my class he more than made up for in pomona's, this is probably the only thing that's kept him alive this long". When the poultice was washed away they all gagged through their teeth at the combined smell and visual, though Severus merely hissed through his teeth.

Looking up he saw the gentle brown eyes of the man were meeting his own. A fever sweat was apparant on his brow, and it was clear he lacked the strength to do little more than meet his gaze but still he saw the awareness behind those eyes.

"Congratulations Mr Longbottom, you managed to localise the rot and stop it spreading but this tissue is necrotic, there's no saving it now and eventually this rot will kill you... you understand what I am telling you ?"

With one last look at his leg, he met Severus's eyes and nodded.

"What you're telling him? You haven't said anything, what do you mean?" Hannah's worried tone cut in and before Hermione could answer her, Luna chimed in.

"Proffesor Snape is just letting him know that he's going to have to cut off his leg" The way Luna said it she may as well have been talking about a hair cut.

"His leg? Why!? You can't, he hasn't turned he's not infected!" The girl exclaimed but a soft hand on her arm from Hermione stopped her.

"Hannah, the wound is necrotic, it's dead. If we leave it, he'll get gangrene and die. We have to take the leg to save his life, do you understand?" She was crying but she nodded.

Hermione turned to Severus, "Below or above the knee?" She asked and Severus tiredly wiped his face with his hands before answering. "Below. I would like to take it above the knee to be sure we have got rid of all the rot and it has not spread, but the chances of him walking again are much slimmer if we take the knee and the chances of hitting the femoral artery and him bleeding out are much higher. His only real chance of having anything resembling functionality is if we take it below the knee and pray to Merlin that we caught the rot in time"

Hermione nodded and turned to Luna "Luna bring water, and the camp stove and if you can carry it bring the table from downstairs" She nodded and did as she asked.

Hannah was looking a bit green. "Table?..." She asked and Hermione turned to her once more "Severus will need a flat surface if he's going to.."

She cut her off with a hand and looked even more green than before.

"What...what do need me to do"

Hermione took pity on the girl and with a soft smile answered her. "Can you look after Teddy for me please? Give him food, water and a good brush down for me?"

Hannah turned to her with tears in her eyes, "I want to help" She said and Hermione simply answered "You would be helping. Teddy means more to us than we can put into words, he has saved my life, in fact just being here he has saved all our lives, he is the reason we have been able to go on and he will be the reason we get to where we're going. I need to make sure he's looked after, and after everything tonight I don't know if me or Severus will have the strength, so I am trusting you to look after him for me, _please_?"

Accepting her words for what they were, Hannah nodded and with one last longing look at Neville and a kiss upon his brow, she left to tend to teddy as Luna returned with the items they needed.

"There was a screwdriver under the sink, I figured you only needed the top" She said, brandishing the wooden table top.

"Thank You Luna" Hermione smiled, and between them they eased the table top on top of the bed and under Neville. "This way when you're done, we can just slide it out from under him, without having to move him" she added and Severus offered her what passed for a indulgent smile from the stoic man.

"Good thinking Miss Lovegood" and she just grinned in responce. "Seeing as most of the school got eaten quite a few years back now, and you're cutting Neville's leg off for me, I think it would be ok if you called me Luna sir"

Hermione snorted and Severus chuckled and there was even a chuff of breath from Neville on the bed and a familiar albeit weak grin from the man, as he lacked the strength to do little else.

"Then call me Severus, Luna for I am nobody's professor anymore"

* * *

They slid the tabletop underneath Neville and Severus tied his belt just above the boys knee as both Hermione and Luna held down an arm.

"Mr Longbottom , I understand what I am about to ask you may be a lot considering the circumstances, but my wife is heavy with our child and I would appreciate if you did your best not to lash out at her for what I am about to do"

"Severus" Hermione scolded but was stopped by Neville's hand squeezing hers. A quick look into those eyes and he smiled faintly even around the piece of leather Severus had put between his teeth and nodded to her and she just offered a watery smile back.

"I am sorry Neville" Severus spoke quietly, before raising the knife above his head.

Outside Hannah tearfully held on to Teddy as he spooked at the loud thunk sound of metal embedding into wood.


End file.
